November 19, 2008 > Letter to the Editor: Halloween candies for our troops Letter to the Editor: Halloween candies for our troops Dr. Colin Yoshida and his staff collected about 297 pounds of excess Halloween candies that will be sent to our troops in Iraq. Bags and bags of donations poured in to his office in Fremont with overwhelming response and support from children and parents in the community. Totals far exceeded last year's collection and turned this fun occasion into a good cause and healthy event for everyone. "It gave us a new way to fulfill our mission to fight cavities while providing an opportunity to put smiles on our service member's faces". Said Dr. Yoshida All collected candies will now be shipped to Operation Gratitude National Guard in Van Nuys California where care packages are prepared with assortments of items. In total, Operation Gratitude has now shipped 315,000 care packages to our troops and will continue to ship more packages until the month of December. "It was the greatest feeling seeing people walk in and out of our office giving their donations for the troops, it boosts our day and it gave more meaning to the spirit of Halloween," said one staff member. From Dr. Yoshida and his staff, we would like to thank and acknowledge everyone who shared and donated their candies to us. Candice Leano Fremont