A group of female detainees from the Nashua Street Jail have been collecting candy with their canteen account money for the past few weeks. Detainees are allowed to receive 50 dollars a week in their canteen account that they can use to buy necessities while detained. The women collected over 80 pounds of candy and created 540 Halloween bags by hand. The candy will be sent to children in Florida who have been victims of the recent hurricanes.

An individual in the 6-4 unit at the Nashua Street Jail organized the effort. She had been watching the news coverage of the devastation in Florida and felt a strong desire to do something to help the victims. Being detained, her resources were limited and she spoke with other women in her unit about ways they could contribute to the relief efforts in Florida from inside the Nashua Street Jail. They decided that providing the children with Halloween candy that they may not otherwise receive this year would be a thoughtful contribution that was within their means.

The staff at Nashua Street Jail was helpful in implementing the candy drive—Lieutenant Sal Taluto stored the collected candy in a secure location. The Sheriff’s Department is paying to ship the candy to the Disaster Relief Center in Tampa, Florida and the candy will arrive in time for Halloween this weekend.

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