Mendham Group Collects 300 Pounds Of Candy For U.S. Troops

MENDHAM, NJ — Students, teachers and parents who are always looking for new ways to give back in Mendham, recently found a sweet way to do so.

The Mendham Borough Home and School Association teamed up with the borough schools and the community, for a candy drive after Halloween, to give back to members of the U.S. Military.

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Britany Gladhill, a representative for the group said the HSA is “always looking for service projects,” which has been a challenge with COVID.

In pre-COVID times, Gladhill told Patch, students had worked to pack shoeboxes themselves for Operation Shoebox New Jersey in an assembly-line fashion, but haven’t been able to help this way recently.

The group pulled together and spoke to Hilltop Elementary School Principal David Heller, Gladhill said, with an idea to make the Hilltop school a drop-off point for Halloween candy.

While the HSA posted about the candy drive on its Facebook Page, Gladhill said students made cards of encouragement to pass out to the troops with the candy.

Gladhill said the HSA was surprised by the outcome, when she saw a “mountain of candy” in the school’s entry area this past week.

She said that not only were students “willing to part with their candy,” but she feels that “many more people have become health conscious” and also felt donating is an easy solution.

Overall, she said Mendham residents have always had generous spirits, looking for ways to give back to the community. Many of the donations, she said, came from residents who don't necessarily have children in the Mendham schools at this time, but who spotted the HSA's Facebook post about the candy drive.

She said she’s noticed a further uptick in that giving spirit, as the community has grown and changed over the last 18 months because of COVID, with new young families moving in to Mendham Borough.

Gladhill said that HSA member Jennifer Walsh and her children delivered the candy to Operation Shoebox NJ’s office in Hillsborough, where it will be further distributed to the troops. The organization states on its website that it sends out about 1,000 care packages to troops monthly.

For more information about Operation Shoebox New Jersey, visit http://opshoeboxnj.org/

To follow Mendham Borough HSA on its website, go to www.mendhamhsa.membershiptoolkit.com or on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/mendhamhsa.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.