We’ve never been one to follow tradition. At Halloween, instead of pumpkins, we carve pineapples and this year, we created a “water-umpkin” instead (I still need to tell you about that!), Max can’t really eat candy so we don’t go into a sugar induced coma, Santa Claus doesn’t come to our house and there was that time that I had my Christmas tree up for three and a half years. There’s more but I’m sure you get my drift.

Well, we’ve come up with a new Halloween tradition (more on that below), and are reinforcing our commitment to an existing one; giving to those in need. We are not alone.

In 2010, the total amount of financial donations that Canadian individuals made to charitable or non-profit organizations was 10.6 billion.* Charities such as; Terry Fox, Ryan’s Well, Breakfast for Learning, Cystic Fibrosis, Kidney Foundation, the list goes on.**

One such charity that we support is the Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects. It was established in 2014 to raise funds and awareness for organizations that provide kids in Canada with role models and mentoring programs. BPF Future Prospects is proud to partner with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Kids Help Phone, Live Different, JDRF and the Rick Hansen Foundation. Since its inception in 1990, the Boston Pizza Foundation has raised and donated more than $20 million to directly improve the health and well-being of children and families.

Did you know that because of donations from you and thousands of Canadians, from August 31 to October 11, 2015, the Boston Pizza Foundation raised over $900,000 through the purchase of Kids Cards. That’s an all time record! The best part is that all the money goes towards helping kids reach their potential. It’s incredible what we can do together.

As for a new Halloween tradition, why not take your family to Boston Pizza before or after trick or treating and feed them something that you and they really want to eat (that isn’t candy, although their worms and dirt kids dessert is pretty good…). Better yet, take the neighbours kids too and treat them all to meals using your Boston Pizza Kids Card. Everyone wins.

Have You Donated to or Heard of the Boston Pizza Foundation?

Connect with Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thanks to you, the @BostonPizzaFdn #BPKidsCard campaign raised over $900,000! Find Out How to Get Involved! #charity https://t.co/e7V1ltOuoW

— Journeys of The Zoo (@zoojourneys) October 30, 2015

Remember that Kids Cards are only redeemable in-store and not through take-out and delivery.

* Source: Statistics Canada – Charitable giving by Canadians

** You can find links to all these charities and more on our #1DollarADay Charity post. This is my personal campaign to raise awareness for Canadian Charities, Causes and People in Need by donating $1 a day for 365 days and proving that a $1 donation can make a difference. Please comment if you know of anyone in need.

Disclosure: Journeys of The Zoo received compensation in exchange for sharing this information.