Sarah Jessica Parker.
(ABC News)With Halloween just two days away, actress Sarah Jessica Parker is speaking out for the UNICEF trick-or-treat campaign. Since 1950, those little orange boxes have collected millions of dollars for poor kids around the world, penny by penny. For Parker, that Halloween tradition is also about teaching values.
I started trick-or-treating for UNICEF when I was really, really, really quite young, like probably around four years old or five years old. I have older siblings and a lot of younger siblings, and it was just simply a part of our lives. … I know what the experience is. I know what it brings to a child. I know what it is now to be a parent and want it for my child. But more importantly, I know what it does for children in peril. … There's a fact about UNICEF which is kind of -- it's sort of stunning, which is that UNICEF has changed and saved more children's lives than any other organization dedicated to children in peril.
This idea of getting candy and coins simultaneous, I mean it is unbeatable. It is a recipe for success, and every parent who started doing it with their children never stops. And every child I know who's ever done it never stops. And it's the first thing they think of as a parent, you know: "This is going to be a thing I'm going to give my child. I'm going to teach him about this very American tradition of volunteerism, responsibility, commitment to others."
It's really, simply that little box -- which has changed since I was a child, but it's still that orange box, universally recognized. Simply put, [it] can change a person's life.
