Have you seen children with little orange boxes, along with their Halloween basket, asking for spare change while they trick-or-treat? They’re doing something that most kids since 1950 have done every Halloween, trick-or-treat for UNICEF.
If you are unfamiliar with UNICEF, it stands for United Nations Children’s Fund. It is a program that provides humanitarian and developmental needs to mothers and their children in developing countries.
The tradition of collecting donations originally started in Philadelphia. After seeing that UNICEF delivered powdered milk to children worldwide, Mary Allison, the wife of a local minister, had the idea to use decorated powdered milk containers to collect donations on Halloween rather than candy.
In 1950, her family and local children went door-to-door and raised $17 for UNICEF. Just three short years later, UNICEF started promoting the program using small orange containers nationwide. Over time, the collections have grown exponentially allowing UNICEF to fund much-needed programs to the underserved and needy worldwide.
In 1965, UNICEF received a Nobel peace prize at which time President Lyndon Johnson is remembered for saying, “Your UNICEF Trick-or-Treat Day has helped turn a holiday too often marred by youthful vandalism into a program of basic training in world citizenship.”
For a short time, the program became so popular that Canada adopted the program as well, but have since discontinued it. The program is more popular in some areas of the United States than others, particularly the east coast. Likely because the US UNICEF headquarters are located in New York and the program originated in Philadelphia.
Still, regardless of where you are in the US, if you see a child with an orange box consider giving your spare change. Or, they may present you with the option to donate electronically since fewer people carry cash these days. UNICEF now accepts donations via their website, on Facebook, and other easily accessible methods.
It just shows goes to show you the power of an idea. If it weren’t for Mrs. Allison’s determination to get kids involved in helping others, the program may not have been such a wild success. It also may not have been able to help as many people as it has been able to help.