Where Halloween candy goes, the day after

New York

OVERWHELMED by candy?

As Halloween has escalated from a quaint local custom into an all-out sugar grab, a post-holiday tradition is gaining momentum: candy buybacks and donation campaigns to absorb the huge surpluses.

It started with paediatric dentists, who began paying for leftovers to ward off cavities and obesity. Then support-the-troops organisations got into the act, like Operation Gratitude and Soldiers' Angels, which run national networks of donation spots where charitable youngsters can drop off their mountains of candy. The sweets are sometimes used in lieu of packing peanuts in gift boxes for faraway soldiers.

On Tuesday morning, schools across the country collected candy to support a range of charities, sometimes …