Not sure what to do with extra Halloween candy? Take it to Turner Mining in Bloomington

Carol Kugler
·2 min read

Some years at Halloween, you don't buy enough candy, other years, way too much. If, after the tricks and treats are all over, that extra candy is staring you in the face, you won't be stuck eating it all by yourself or foisting it off on your officemates.

Providing military service members and veterans who are deployed outside the U.S. with a little taste — or treat — from home is a project Bloomington-based Turner Mining Group hopes area residents will get behind. Anyone with leftover Halloween candy can drop it off at the mining group's Bloomington office as part of Soldiers' Angels' Treats for the Troops program.

Any individually wrapped candy left over after Halloween can be donated to the Treats for Troops project at the Bloomington office of Turner Mining Group.
Any individually wrapped candy left over after Halloween can be donated to the Treats for Troops project at the Bloomington office of Turner Mining Group.

"We look for ways to get involved in the community," said Sarah D'Amico, marketing manager at Turner Mining Group, a contract mining company that employs about 250 people. "We are an American mining company and we want to support American troops."

The company has been providing Halloween treats to military troops for several years. Last year, there was a company-wide contest to see who could donate the most Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, and other goodies. A group working in Texas provided more than half the almost 60 pounds of candy that was collected, D'Amico said.

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This year there will be an office contest but instead of looking internally, Turner Mining Group is hoping Bloomington area residents will donate leftover candy to the cause. The candy has to be individually wrapped, or something like a unopened bag of jelly beans. It could even be D'Amico's favorite: sour gummy worms, her go-to road-trip snack.

D'Amico said the company's founder and president Keaton Turner hasn't served in the military, but many of the employees are military veterans or serve in the reserves.

"It's something small that we can do that hits close to home," she said. "We definitely want the community involved more this year."

In fact, the map on the Soldiers' Angels website about Treats for Troops shows that Turner Mining is the only Indiana site listed this year to participate in the project. About half of the participating businesses are dental offices, according to the website. The closest location besides Turner Mining to Bloomington is in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Turner Mining accepts Halloween candy from Oct. 25 through Nov. 11. Turner Mining's Bloomington office is at 304 W. Kirkwood Ave., Suite 100, and is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Turner Mining in Bloomington collecting Halloween candy for soldiers