Help Raise Allergy Awareness This Halloween With The Teal Pumpkin Project

BY CHRISTINE BUSH

Thanksgiving and Christmas are all well and good, but everyone knows that when fall rolls around, kids eat, sleep, and breathe Halloween. That is, of course, unless you’re a kid with food allergies.

There’s nothing worse than watching Mom toss half your candy loot, or nix trick-or-treating all together, because of safety concerns. That’s why Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), a nonprofit supporting both children and adults with food allergies, developed the Teal Pumpkin Project in 2014.

The premise is simple. In addition to (or in place of) your traditional trick-or-treat candy, grab some inexpensive goodies — think plastic rings, stickers, glow sticks, and pencils.

Paint a pumpkin teal, or if you don’t have time to get crafty, print one of the FARE posters from their website, and place them outside. This way, families with food allergies know that your home is a safe stop for non-food treats.

According to FARE, one child out of every 13 has some kind of a food allergy. That’s a lot of our neighborhood kids! Let’s step it up this year, and make sure that all of our Brooklynites have a safe and happy Halloween.

For more information on the Teal Pumpkin Project, visit the FARE website, or email Anna Luke at aluke@foodallergy.org.

For family-friendly news, events, information, and more from around Brooklyn, check out our sister site, City Kid Corner.