Many are old enough to remember trick-or-treating with those bright orange UNICEF boxes, collecting change for a cause. This year, the organization is tapping into that nostalgia, bringing the box back in a modern way. Carrying a UNICEF box on Halloween night door-to-door sparks childhood memories. “Most definitely. Yeah. It takes me back completely,” says eastern Ontario resident Amber Pook. “I remember, taking them out on Halloween when I was a kid and going to the neighbors and trying to get donations,” she says. “I mean, I knew that we were raising money and it was going to help people. That’s all I pretty much grasped as a child, but, yeah, I knew it was for a good cause.” And now, the box is back in a new way. UNICEF Canada is launching a limited-edition Halloween Box t-shirt featuring a throwback design and a built-in QR code to donate, inviting others to keep Canada’s tradition of Halloween giving alive, according to a press release. “So many Canadians helped to make childhood better for so many children through trick-or-treating tradition with those Halloween boxes. And so, they’re back in, in a form you can wear,” says Sevaun Palvetzian, UNICEF Canada President and CEO. She says the shirts are available online for $50, “And we’re hoping that parents who are maybe trick-or-treating with their little ones, who used to wear the box around their neck, might wear one of these shirts, or certainly I’ll be handing out candy here at home. That’s where I’m going to be wearing mine.” The shirts are made possible in collaboration with apparel brand Kotn. “It has never actually been a more challenging time to be a child in so many corners of the planet,” says Palvetzian. According to UNICEF, “Proceeds from the sale of the UNICEF Halloween Box t-shirt will help fund UNICEF programs across the globe, providing education, safe water, vaccines, healthcare and more to children who need it most.”
