HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF UTAH COUNTY

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September/October 2015

Shopping for a Cause! Habitat Selling Tickets to Annual Shopping Extravaganza!

Habitat for Humanity of Utah County is participating again in the Outlets at Traverse Mountain An-nual Shopping Extravaganza on Saturday, October 10, 2015. The affiliate is currently selling tickets to the event. 75% of ticket proceeds go towards Habitat’s local mission if purchased at the Orem Habitat office, Orem and Spanish Fork Restores or online at http://www.outletsattraversemountain.com/event/shopping-extravaganza/2145456504 (choose Habitat as your charity of choice). A $20 ticket includes lunch/dessert bar, five chances to win over $30,000 in prizes, live entertainment, photo booth, generous store discounts and much more.

Utah Valley ReStores to Celebrate the 30th World Habitat Day with Huge

Sale

Habitat for Humanity of Utah County ReStores in Orem and Spanish Fork will be celebrating World Habitat Day with a huge sale on Friday, October 9th and Saturday, October 10th. The Utah Valley ReStores will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. those days and will have 50% off selected items, refresh-ments, and drawings for prizes, such as an overnight stay at the Manti House Bed and Breakfast Inn. Stop by, save big, and enter to win! Store locations can be found at www.habitatuc.org/restore.htm

World Habitat Day is the one day set aside annually to recognize the basic right of all humanity to ade-quate shelter, and to encourage grassroots action toward ending poverty housing. On World Habitat Day, the first Monday of October, the Habitat for Humanity community joins the United Nations and or-ganizations around the world in raising awareness, educating and mobilizing individuals and communi-ties to take action on the current global housing crisis. Habitat for Humanity and the United Nations General Assembly will observe the 30th anniversary of World Habitat Day this year.

Habitat to Hold Orientations for Those Interested in Affordable Housing Program

Habitat for Humanity of Utah County is currently seeking applicants for its local affordable housing pro-gram. Those interested in applying will need to attend one of three orientations to be held the third week of October at Community Action Services and Food Bank at 815 South Freedom Blvd, Provo. Sessions will be: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 21, 2015 6:30 p.m., or Friday, Octo-ber 23, 2015 2:00 p.m. Orientation attendance is the important and mandatory first step in the applica-tion process. For qualifications and more information, look online at www.habitatuc.org/qualify.htm or call the office at (801) 344-8527.

• Join the Circle of 100 and help Habitat build its first full Women Build home in Provo with a single mother and her two children! Details at www.habitatuc.org/circleOf100.htm.

• Get all your fall home improvement projects done today! Stop by the Habitat ReStores in Orem and Spanish Fork and save big on new and used building material, appliances, furniture, and paint! Locations and hours at www.habitatuc.org/restore.htm.

• A decent home helps students succeed. Donate your car to help Habitat build local homes. It’s easy and pick-up is free. Details at www.habitatuc.org/cars-for-homes.htm.

• Recycle all the aluminum cans from your fall school carnivals and help provide safe and afford-able housing for families in need in our community. Drop off locations at www.habitatuc.org/recycle.htm.

• Do you live in downtown Provo and have an idea for a neighborhood beautification project? Habitat has funding to help make these projects a reality. Contact Ashley at (801) 368-2260 or ashleyb@habitatuc.org for more information.

A PRAYER FOR HOUSING – Habitat for Humanity held its Annual Day of Prayer event this past Sunday

at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Provo. The beauti-ful interfaith service included prayer, scripture, won-derful music, and a special address by Robert Millet, retired Dean of Religion at BYU. A highlight of the evening was when the children of St. Mary’s pre-sented a “check” to help with Habitat’s mission in the community. So sweet!

A BRUSH WITH KINDNESS – Habitat for Humanity of Utah County kicked off the first national A Brush with Kindness Week locally this past Saturday with a small ceremony. A Brush with Kindness Week is a nationwide effort to transform neighborhoods by painting, pro-viding minor exterior home re-pairs, landscaping and cleaning up yards in partnership with more than 153 low-income homeowners, many of whom are elderly or have a disability. Lo-cally, over 30 Habitat for Human-ity of Utah County volunteers will

work on three projects in the Orem, Utah near the local affiliate’s Washburn Reams Development during the week.

PHOTO GALLERY

2 • To make energy more affordable for families who need it most, One World Solar installs solar panels for

low income families including Habitat for Humanity-built homes in our service areas. We bring together com-munity partners, volunteers and job trainees to implement solar power and energy efficiency for families, providing energy cost savings, valuable hands-on experience, and a source of clean local energy that bene-fits us all. To request an application for the Solar House - Affordable Renewable Energy program, which pro-vides families a long-term solution to reverse high energy bills, email One World Solar at info@1WorldSolar.org.

• Go grocery shopping and help provide safe and affordable housing for families in need in our community! Sign up for Smith’s Community Rewards Program at www.smithscommunityrewards.com, link your ac-count/card with Habitat for Humanity of Utah County (#48773) and then go shopping at your local Smith’s Grocery Store. Smith’s will then provide a financial contribution to the local Habitat affiliate.

• Check out Habitat’s FUNSAVER Site! Habitat for Humanity has partnered with VP Deals to get all the lat-est bargains on local products/venues. Check out this week’s FUNSAVER specials at www.habitatucdeals.info. A portion of your “fun” purchases will help Habitat further its housing mission in the community.

• Did you know that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer? Protect your family today from this cancer causing gas by testing your home! Test kits are available at the Habitat ReStores in Orem and Spanish Fork for only $6.00 (includes lab fee). More information about radon, look online at www.habitatuc.org/radon.htm.

PHOTO GALLERY 3

LABORING AT THE PARADE! - Habitat for Humanity of Utah County partner families and staff members of Kenny Seng Construction and their families walked in the Payson Onion Days Parade on Labor Day to promote Habitat’s affordable housing mission. The volunteers handed out candy and flyers to parade goers. Special thanks to Kenny Seng and his staff for sponsoring this year’s parade entry and providing the cool parade “float”!

A DAY TO CARE! - PEG Development brought 16 em-ployees to work at the Evans Habitat home in Orem as part of this year’s annual United Way of Utah County’s Day of Caring event. The volunteers worked for three and a half hours doing landscaping and framing, includ-ing: engineering and building retaining walls, prepping for the sprinkling system, installing the main carport beam, and raking and leveling the yard. They also do-nated financially to the project.

PHOTO GALLERY

For more information, look online at www.habitatuc.org or contact LeAnn at (801) 368-2250 or leann@habitatuc.org. You can also sign up online at www.habitatuc.org/volunteer.htm.

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YOUTH HELP TO TRANSFORM TYERAY SUBDIVISION - Youth and Youth Leaders from the Sa-lem 6th LDS Ward helped to transform Habitat’s TyeRay Sub-division in Provo on Friday, July 31st. Volunteers weeded the

parking strips at the subdivision. They also cleaned up the TyeRay Community Garden and helped Habitat homeowner, Menou Tchako, prepare her back and side yard for topsoil, a sprinkling system, and sod. Tchako has been saving funds to upgrade her prop-erty for many years and was grateful to have the additional help to make the project possi-ble. We appreciate Habitat Board member, Tara Riddle, for organizing the service project and the youth volunteers for their hard work

Volunteer Opportunities

VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT TO SERVE ON COMMITTEES Volunteers are needed to serve on all of Habitat’s local committees. Monthly or quarterly meetings, limited time commitment, no experience necessary, varying interests and skills needed. For more information, con-tact LeAnn Hillam at (801) 368-2250 or leann@habitatuc.org.

LAST POLICE PICNIC OF THE SEASON - Habitat re-cently held its last police picnic of the season at the Maeser Park Pavilion recently. Maeser Neighbors were able to gather and discuss community revitalization and safety needs with Habitat staff and local Community Police Offi-cers. Special thanks to Rachel Whipple for organizing the picnic and to Smith's for donating the food.

CREW LEADERS AND SITE HOSTS NEEDED TO

HELP GUIDE CONSTRUCTION

Volunteers with construction experience or those wanting to improve their construction skills are being sought to participate in the affiliate's Crew Leader and Site Host Programs. Orientations are monthly. The next orientation will be on at the Habitat office in Orem on October 17th beginning at 9:00 a.m. For informa-tion, contact LeAnn at the number or email below.

PARTYING AT THE POND! - Habitat for Human-ity of Utah County held its Annual Summer Party for its homeowners and partner families in late August at the Wayne Bartholomew Family Park in Springville. Families enjoyed sandwiches, chips, fruit, and some yummy desserts. After dinner, the families played in the sand and water and fished at the new pond.

Home Maintenance Tips 5

HOUSING FACT

Affordable housing saves taxpayer money by reducing demand for other government services, includ-ing homeless, health and other social programs.

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HOME MAINTENANCE TIP (www.houselogic.com)

What’s Causing Those Footsteps in the Attic and Other Spooky Sounds and Smells?

Are you haunted by strange noises and weird odors? With the proper maintenance, you’ve got more than a ghost of a chance to rest easy.

Creaking and Popping in the Night The many materials that make up your house — wood framing, plywood, glass, metal ducts, nails, plumbing pipes — all expand and contract at different rates.

When a house cools at night, these materials may move slightly, rubbing against each other and making noises. Occasionally, they’ll contract with an audible pop.

These sounds tend to be more noticeable in fall, when warm days give way to rapidly cooling nights. The bad news? Not much you can do about it. The good news? Those sounds are harmless and normal.

Zombie Odor It’s either time to throw out the garbage, or you’d better call your gas utility to check on your gas lines and con-nections. Natural gas is odorless, but natural gas suppliers add a foul-smelling odorant — butyl mercaptan — to alert occu-pants to any leaks. The smell is like rotten eggs. Leaks can occur at your gas-fired water heater, fireplace, clothes dryer, and any gas line. Leaking natural gas is potentially dangerous — leave the house and call your natural gas provider to assess the situation. Most utility companies perform safety checks for free. Footsteps in the Attic Amplified by an unfinished attic space, a raccoon or even a good-size squirrel on your roof might sound like an ax murderer is doing the polka overhead. These rooftop transits are normal for critters — roofs offer a nice long unobstructed highway. Make sure your soffit, rafter, and gable roof vents are covered with screens and in good shape, or your rooftop buddies might find their way into your attic for real. Trim back branches that provide critters easy access to your roof. Something’s Burning You can smell the odor of burnt wood, but the smoke detectors aren’t going off and there’s no smoke in the house. The culprit could be your fireplace — even if you haven’t had a fire for days. The probable cause is a drafty chimney and negative air pressure in your home, meaning that outside air is infil-trating down your chimney, bringing stale burnt smells with it. Stop drafts by making sure your damper has a good seal. Regulate air pressure by adding more cold air return ducts to your HVAC system. You’ll get rid of the odor and save on your energy bill, too. Moaning and Clattering These classic spooky sounds often show up when the wind blows and there’s a storm brewing. Vents for clothes dryers, bathrooms, and water heaters exit out the roof or the side of the house. To prevent backdrafts, these vents have dampers — flaps designed to let vented air out and prevent outside air from coming in. These flaps sometimes move and rattle in high winds. Because dampers often are located in attics or in between floor joists, the sound can be difficult to pinpoint. You may need a new damper ($85).

6 SAVING TIP (www.moneycrashers.com)

Simple Tips to Save Money at Halloween – Decorations, Food, Costumes & Trick-or-Treating

Though the holiday season in December is generally the costliest time of the year for many families, the ex-penses of Halloween can be surprisingly immense. Buying Halloween costumes, candy, special accesso-ries, decorations, and treats for school events can seriously bust your bank account.

The biggest problem is that many people don’t budget for Halloween as they would for Christmas or Easter. Instead, Halloween purchases are often unexpected and made at the last minute.

So, what’s a savvy parent to do when Halloween rolls around? Celebrate on the cheap, of course. By finding more affordable ways to decorate, dress, snack, and party, Halloween doesn’t have to be a budget-busting night. In fact, you might find that a little DIY spirit actually makes it a lot more fun.

Halloween Tips to Save Money

Decor

What’s Halloween without an appropriately scary house? If you purchase decor at a big box store, you can expect to spend upward of $100 on wall hangings, inflatables, spooky spiderwebs, and all the fixings. Or, you can find more cost-friendly ways to dress up your house for Halloween.

• Make DIY Glowing Eyes. Every family has a few empty toilet paper rolls lying around. Make them into spooky decorations by cutting two slits (for the “eyes”) lengthwise into each tube, and then slide in a col-ored glow stick. Position the eyes in your garden or front yard so it looks like creepy creatures are peer-ing through the plants at unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. Just remember that glow sticks only last one night.

• Buy Cheap Pumpkins. If I skipped jack-o’-lantern carving altogether, my kids would stage a revolt. How-ever, while I still carve pumpkins, I buy them at the grocery store for better pricing. There are a number of pumpkin farms nearby, which require entrance fees and hayride tickets in addition to the cost of the pumpkin. By grabbing mine at the grocery store, I usually pay a lower price and nix all the extras.

• Make a Bat Cave. If you have a pair of scissors and some black construction paper, turn a room in your house into a “bat cave.” Start by printing out a few bat shapes from your computer, then cut them out to use as templates. Trace the shapes onto black construction paper and cut those out, too. You can then tape a whole bevy of bats to the walls in your home.

• Monster-ify Your Front Door. Another construction paper craft involves using colorful strips to turn your front door into a spooky (or silly) monster. Your kids can help out, cutting out hair, eyes, a nose, and a mouth to tape onto your front door. Not only should this impress trick-or-treaters, you treat yourself to easy cleanup.

• Swap Out Light Bulbs. A cost-effective way to set the tone at your home or Halloween party is to pur-chase a few colored light bulbs. Look for blue, red, yellow, or green bulbs at your local hardware or big box store, and then screw them into your usual light fixtures to create a wash of creepy color. Just make sure to store them carefully when you’re done. You can use them year after year.

Costumes

Costumes can be the priciest part of any Halloween, thanks to markup from stores. To save on outfits and accessories, skip the mad rush on October 30th and get creative with your kids.

• Use Items You Already Own. For the best DIY costumes, use what you already have. From articles of clothing, to makeup, to cardboard pieces, to props, there’s a chance you already have the makings of a great costume around the house. Take a look in your kids’ closets and also your own – you never know what castoffs you might have that would make the perfect funky costume.

• Swap With Friends. One of the reasons buying Halloween costumes is so painful is because kids only wear them once or twice. Chances are, you know parents who feel the same way and would be happy to swap and lend costumes accordingly. Remember that if you borrow a costume, make sure to keep it in good condition. After a night of running around outside and eating candy, it may need a good washing before you return it.

• Buy “Dress Up” Instead of a “Costume.” Don’t want to spend $50 on a deluxe princess dress? Try this little secret: Leave the costume section of the store and head to the toy section. There, you often find “dress-up” costumes not branded for Halloween that are much cheaper than the seasonal versions. A princess dress in the dress-up section usually runs around $20. There may be some minor differences, but the $30 savings is worth a little shopping around.

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• Skip the Masks. Not only are masks a pricey part of a costume, they can be dangerous. In fact, Safe Kids Worldwide warns that masks obstruct both vision and breathing in kids, and should be avoided. Skip the cost and the risk and opt for face paint instead. It’s safer and cheaper, especially when you use products that you already own. Eyeliner is especially great for drawing on mustaches.

Food Throwing a Halloween party? The cost of food quickly adds up, especially when you’re serving up spooky specialties.

Don’t be tempted by Pinterest, which is full of fun but often over-the-top ideas. Keep your budget in check by going for more basic, cheaper fare. After all, candy is the main attraction on Halloween, for kids and adults alike. Instead of going all-out on a meal, stick to finger foods with a little freaky flair.

• Make Mummy Dogs. Simple and cheap, mummy dogs are prefect for little fingers. Start by rolling out a can of crescent roll dough and cutting it into thin strips with a pizza cutter. Then, use those strips to wrap hot dogs up like mummies with two to three strips per hot dog. Pop them in the oven at 350 degrees and bake them for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. You can even wrap the mummy dogs ahead of time and keep them covered in your fridge until you’re ready to bake.

• Have a Donut-Eating Contest. One of my favorite cheap ways to entertain kids at Halloween parties is with a donut-eating contest. Grab a dozen donuts at your grocery store bakery and attach each to a long dowel with a piece of string. Instruct the kids to try and eat the hanging donut without hands while two adults hold the dowel horizontally. It’s a fun game to fill little bellies and pass the time until trick-or-treating.

• Dress-Up Suckers. In charge of bringing treats for school? Try this cheap trick: Buy a large bag of inex-pensive lollipops and a box of facial tissues. Place a tissue over the sucker, tie it with a ribbon, and then use a marker to draw a simple ghost face.

• Float “Eyeballs.” Frozen fruit is a great alternative to ice cubes in punch: It keeps drinks cold and won’t dilute the flavor. The night before your party, throw a bag of green grapes into your freezer. Then, whip up a bowl of your favorite red punch. Just before guests arrive, pour in the frozen grapes, which look like creepy floating eyeballs. The best part? No need to buy and replenish ice.

Trick-or-Treating Finally, after all the festivities, it’s time to head out and start trick-or-treating. Whether you’re going house-to-house or you prefer to stay home and hand out candy, there are ways to reduce the cost of the age-old trick-or-treating tradition.

• Use Candy Alternatives. Handing out treats this year? Candy can be seriously expensive. Consider non-candy treats instead. It’s much cheaper to purchase a roll of stickers and hand out one perforated square per child, or grab a huge bucket of plastic bugs at the dollar store. After all, kids get a ton of chocolate, chewy candy, suckers, and gum each Halloween, so getting a little prize, toy, or pencil seems like a novelty.

• Buy Glowsticks. Children are twice HYPERLINK "https://www.preventinjury.org/PDF/2013-Pedestrian"as likely to be involved in pedestrian accidents on Halloween than other nights, so you need to make sure your little monster is as visible to cars as possible. You can purchase any number of lighted accessories to make sure that your child is easy to see, but my favorite solution is to buy cheap glowsticks from the dollar store. They come with joining fasteners, which can be used to make circles around ankles, necks, and wrists. Children are much more likely to want to wear glowsticks than a reflective vest that covers their costume. Since glowstick brands vary, buy some extra and test them out before Halloween to see how long yours last.

• Get Creative With Containers. You don’t need the perfect plastic pumpkin for your little one to trick-or-treat. Get creative with your carrying containers: Pillow cases, reusable grocery bags, baskets, deco-rated gift bags, and even sand buckets work perfectly for treats.

Final Word

It’s true that Halloween can be an expensive holiday, especially if your kids have big expectations. However, doing some of the work yourself and being creative with your resources is part of the fun of celebrating Hal-loween as a family. Think outside the big box store and get crafty – and you’ll find that Halloween doesn’t have to break the bank.

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(www.safekids.org)

SAFETY TIP Keep Costumes Both Creative and Safe

Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors.

Choose face paint and makeup whenever possible in-stead of masks, which can obstruct a child’s vision.

Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights to help them see and be seen by drivers.

When selecting a costume, make sure it is the right size to prevent trips and falls.

Drive Extra Safely on Halloween

Slow down and be especially alert in residential neighborhoods. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.

Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medi-ans and on curbs.

Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.

Eliminate any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.

Drive slowly, anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic and turn your headlights on earlier in the day to spot children from greater distances.

Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. so be especially alert for kids during those hours.

RESOURCES

Community Action Services offers Home Buyer Education Classes on a monthly basis. Classes in October will be held October 7th and 8th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. or October 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To register, please call (801) 691-5200 or go online to www.communityactionuc.org.

Community Action Services and Food Bank are hosting a FREE USDA Case Lot Food Distribution. Low income families can receive USDA products for free including canned goods, dried fruit, juices, etc. Stop by Community Action at 815 South Freedom Blvd., Provo between October 19 through October 21st or October 26th through October 28th from Noon to 4:00 p.m. to pick up the items.

Habitat families who are struggling to put food on the table can contact Kena at the Habitat office. She can pro-vide emergency food vouchers for families to receive short term food boxes from Community Action. Call her at (801) 344-8527 x 103 for further details.

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HALLOWEEN SAFETY TIPS

Walk Safely

Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks.

Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross.

Put electronic devices down and keep heads up and walk, don’t run, across the street.

Teach children to make eye contact with drivers be-fore crossing in front of them.

Always walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to

the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.

Watch for cars that are turning or backing up. Teach children to never dart out into the street or cross be-tween parked cars.

Trick or Treat With an Adult

Children under the age of 12 should not be alone at night without adult supervision. If kids are mature enough to be out without supervision, they should stick to familiar areas that are well lit and trick-or-treat in groups.

Home Maintenance Classes

Check out Habitat & Community Action’s Free Home Maintenance Course. The next class will be Thursday, Sep-tember 24, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. The topics are: Interior Painting and Interior Wall Repair, Leaky Roof Repair. The October class will be Thursday, October 29, 2015. The topic will be: Basic Plumbing Repairs Classes begin at 6:30 p.m. and are held at the Habitat office at 340 South Orem Blvd., Orem.

At HOME DEPOT – Registration is necessary. Call store or register online. Look online for the September and October clinic schedules at www.homedepot.com.

At LOWE'S - you must sign up for How-To Clinics by calling 229-1485 or stopping by their store at 140 West Uni-versity Parkway in Orem. Look online for September and October clinic schedules at www.lowes.com.

At CENTRAL UTAH GARDENS – Registration is necessary. Look online for upcoming classes at www.centralutahgardens.org/classes_events_concerts.aspx

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(healthland.time.com)

HEALTH TIPS

leathers, or a trail mix of whole grain cereals. She also says kids will usually take cool toys over candy if given a choice, so she advises parents to consider pencils, eras-ers, stickers, tattoos, glow sticks, and Play-Doh contain-ers. “Often [children’s] excitement is in collecting the candy, rather than eating the candy,” Sheth said.

Sometimes it’s what’s on the outside that counts more than what is inside. “It’s all in the packaging with kids,” said Angela Lemond, a registered dietician in the Dallas area. “You can make healthy treats, but you can pack-age them in a really cool, spooky way that will make them more likely to consume it.” Lemond suggested freezing frozen yogurt in small paper cups and placing them in a cooler with dry ice for a spooky, smoky effect. Decorating the cooler to look like an old chest can make it more fun for kids to dig into the healthy treats.

Cheddar popcorn balls in a plastic baggie sporting a smiling face can be instant pumpkin heads that are also a hit with kids who won’t miss the sugar of a sweeter treat.

Trick-or-Treat and Exercise

King encourages parents to make their children walk from house to house instead of driving them. Parents can even encourage siblings or friends to wear pedome-ters or activity meters and start a friendly competition for who can be the most active while they are collecting candy.

Keep your favorite sweets. Hide the restJ

Some nutritionists suggest that a little goes a long way and say it’s best to allow kids to have 1-3 pieces of candy a day, starting with lunch at school, as an after-noon snack, or after dinner, making it a regular part of meals. The rest of the candy can go in the freezer so that it’s out of sight and out of mind.

Parents should be just as vigilant about their candy con-sumption as children, says Karen Ansel, a New York nutrition expert. “Kids go to school all day, and parents are often home with the candy lying around,” she said. “If you’re buying Halloween candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters, buy your least favorite ones so that you are not tempted to eat them.”

JOr give it away

When children get back home from trick-or-treating, have them make two piles: one for the candy they want to keep, another for the candy they will not eat. Consider donating the second pile to a local senior citizens home, food pantry, Ronald McDonald House, or children’s hos-pital.

You can even make money off your stash and make a U.S. soldier’s day at the same time. This year, more than 1,000 dentists nationwide are buying candy from kids — $1 per pound — and then shipping it to U.S. troops overseas via Operation Gratitude as part of a Halloween Candy Buy-Back program, started by Wis-consin dentist Dr. Chris Kammer. He says that soldiers

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5 Tips for a Healthy Halloween

Wondering if it's possible to have a healthy Hallow-een? Here are some tips from dentists and nutrition-ists

Halloween is that sweet time of year when children can collect and eat as much candy as they want.

But with the obesity rate triple what it was a genera-tion ago, and the number of cavities among children increasing for the first time in 40 years, some health experts consider the candy-focused holiday a night-mare. The American Dental Association (ADA) launched a Mouth “campaign, offering coupons for the game Plants vs. Zombies that parents can distrib-ute to trick-or-treaters instead of candy so that kids are not as prone to developing cavities, or, as the dentists are calling them, “zombie mouths.”

Based on the nutrition labels on popular candies, the average child accumulates 3,500 to 7,000 calories worth of treats on Halloween night, according to Donna Arnett, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Epi-demiology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s School of Public Health. According to a recent report, a 100-pound child who consumed all of those treats, or 7,000 calories, would have to walk for nearly 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours to burn those calories. And the dangers aren’t just sweets-related: studies show that since children are walking neighborhoods in search of treats, there are more child pedestrian accidents on Halloween than any other day of the year.

Still, the holiday shouldn’t be all spooks and no fun. If your children generally eat well all year long, then experts say that there is nothing wrong with letting them eat candy on Halloween night and a few mini pieces daily afterwards. The key, of course, is mod-eration. Family nutrition experts shared these tips with TIME Healthland about how parents can incor-porate healthy foods, even workouts, into trick-or-treating — and some ideas for what to do with the rest of the loot when the trick and treating is over.

Fill up before trick-or-treating

If kids are full before they go trick-or-treating, then they will eat fewer pieces of candy afterwards. “Consider having your kids eat something healthy before they go out so they aren’t tempted to eat the candy along the way,” said Vandana Sheth, a regis-tered dietician based in Los Angeles.

Hand out non-sugary foods and toys

Nutritionists suggest some more wholesome treats that parents could give trick-or-treaters. Kristi King, senior pediatric dietician at Texas Children’s Hospi-tal, thinks animal crackers, mini rice cereal or granola bars, whole grain cheddar cheese crackers, and sugar free hot chocolate packets, make good treats. Sheth recommends pretzels, apples, tangerines, fruit

Thank You Jones Excavating, Kenny Seng Construction,

Wells Fargo, Valspar, Zions Bank

Ancestry.com

BYU Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter

BYU Law School students

Client Tether

Crest Financial

Dynamic Structures

Frisby Family

Jamberry Nails

Jeremy Pugh

Jones Excavating

Kenny Seng Construction

Kim Childs

Liesl and Tyson Eyre

MityLite

Nudge

PEG Development

Powerhouse Electric

Salisbury Plumbing

Simplifile

Trevor Lillywhite

UVU Habitat for Humanity Campus

Chapter

Valspar

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo employees

WPA Architecture

Wyndham

Zions Bank

HOUSEHOLD HINT (besthouseholdhintsandtips.com)

To neutralize odors in your garbage disposal pour 1/4 cup of Arm & Hammer baking soda down garbage dis-posal followed by a tiny amount of water. Let stand for a few minutes, then run water and disposal to rinse.

FUN HABITAT FACT

Did you know that the local Habitat ReStores kept over a million pounds of waste out of area landfills this past fiscal year?

10 will receive toothbrushes, floss, and mouthwash with each handful of candy so that they can brush thoroughly after-wards. “You can’t get a cavity in a short amount of time with a handful of exposures to candy,” he says.

In addition to the cash, participating dentists will also give kids treats, such as restaurant coupons and Xylitol gum made with a naturally-occurring sweetener that may prevent tooth decay and reduce cavities. “We replace some of their candy with a healthy candy alternative,” Kammer said. And in the process, children can learn a valuable lesson about giving.

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1—Site Selec-

tion 2 3

4 5—World

Habitat Day 6 7—Getting

Ahead 8 9 10—

Shopping Extravaganza

11 12—Development Services

13 14—Executive and Finance Com-mittee —Getting Ahead

15—Family

Partnership 16 17—Crew

Leader and Site Host Training

18 19 20—

Orientation 21—Board

Meeting

—Getting Ahead

22—ReStore

23—Orientation

24

25 26 27 28 29—Home

Maintenance 30 31

Of Utah County

11

A Brush with Kindness Week September 19th – September 26th Getting Ahead September 23rd 7:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office ReStore September 24th 7:30 a.m. Orem Habitat office Home Maintenance September 24th 6:30 p.m. Orem Habitat office Getting Ahead September 30th 7:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office Site Selection October 1st Noon Orem Habitat office World Habitat Day October 5th Getting Ahead October 7th 7:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office ReStore World Habitat Day Sale October 9th and 10th Orem and Spanish Fork ReStores Shopping Extravaganza October 10th Outlets at Traverse Mountain Development Services October 12th Noon Orem Habitat office Neighborhood Revitalization October 12th 3:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office Executive and Finance Committee October 14th Orem Habitat office Getting Ahead October 14th 7:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office Family Partnership October 15th 6:30 p.m. Orem Habitat office Crew Leader and Site Host Training October 17th 9:00 a.m. Orem Habitat office Orientation October 20th 6:30 p.m. Community Action Getting Ahead October 21st 7:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office Board Meeting October 21st 8:00 a.m. Orem Habitat office Orientation October 22nd 6:30 p.m. Community Action ReStore October 22nd 7:30 p.m. Orem Habitat office Orientation October 23rd 2:00 p.m. Community Action Home Maintenance October 29th 6:30 p.m. Orem Habitat office

ReStore World Habitat

Day Sale

A Brush with Kindness Week Sept 19th – Sept 26th Getting Ahead Sept 23rd 7:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office ReStore Sept 24th 7:30 a.m. Orem Habitat office Home Maintenance Sept 24th 6:30 p.m. Orem Habitat office Getting Ahead Sept 30th 7:00 p.m. Orem Habitat office