Congrats to Bethesda-based service group MoverMoms, who once again organized a hugely successful "Treats-4-Troops" campaign this year.

Launched in 2007, the drive began as a way to help clear excess Halloween candy out of the house and to benefit U.S. servicemen and women serving overseas. MoverMoms donates candy to a West Virginia military mom, who uses the treats to fill stockings she then ships out to the troops for arrival around the winter holidays.

The drive has expanded in past years and now draws on donations from individuals and groups across the Washington, D.C. region.

In Bethesda Monday evening, about 20 volunteers -- about half of them kids -- packed a 26-foot truck full of candy to send the treats off on their first leg of the journey towards their final destination, according to MoverMoms co-founder Rebecca Kahlenberg.

"The candy will be about eight tons, at current estimate, nearly doubling from last year --which is why we've moved up from a 16-foot to a 26-foot truck," Kahlenberg wrote in an email to Patch.