Teal Pumpkin Project

According to FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) researchers estimate that up to 15 million Americans have food allergies. This potentially deadly disease affects 1 in every 13 children (under 18 years of age) in the U.S. That’s roughly two in every classroom. And the number only continues to rise each year.

As a mom of two children with food allergies, one with life threatening allergies, these statistics are alarming, especially because so many people are still remain uneducated about this topic, and still believe allergies are not a real issue.

As Halloween approaches, my anxiety heightens when it comes to protecting my kids from potentially dangerous treats. My kids are just like all the other kids out there and want to go trick or treating on halloween. As their mom, I want them to be able to go out with all the other neighborhood kids and enjoy the night just like everyone else, but I also want them to be safe and not reach into a bowl of candy that could potentially kill them. Sounds dramatic I know, but if you are an allergy parent out there reading this, I can almost guarantee you are shaking your head yes because you know that this is actually not dramatic at all, but is indeed a fact.

In years past, I just had my kids go out and trick or treat and then come home and “exchange” their candy for safe candy that I had waiting for them back at home. This has worked really well for us, and I am thankful that my kids are so good about not being able to eat most of the candy they just walked around and collected. However, there was always a part of me that felt a little bad for them. Each time they grabbed a piece of candy I had wished it was something they could eat, or even better would be something they could just play with (meaning a non-food item).

Well much to my delight, last halloween FARE started the Teal Pumpkin Project! What this you ask?? It’s when people decide to give out non-food items as their “treat” and they display a teal pumpkin outside their home to show parents that there is safe items at their house for any allergy kids out there that might be walking by! How awesome is that?? So of course, we had to participate this year (I would have last year, but I wasn’t aware of the project until after Halloween).  I had the kids paint a few of our pumpkins this past weekend and explained the project to them. My older son (the one with allergies) was so excited. He kept raving what a good idea this was! And I agree!

Now I have heard some people say “But I really want to hand out candy”… My response is “okay! Why not do both?” (separate bowls please). Some have said “its too much money” and friends, let me just say as a mom on a very tight budget, I get this. I really do. However, I was able to get this bowl full of stuff for less then $5. There are enough items in there for over 40 children (I would be surprised if we got 10) but I just wanted to be sure to have enough. These items are not extravagant. Its just a little something to substitute a piece of candy. I chose to have stickers, tattoos, pencils, bouncy balls and crayons. Can I get an Amen for the $1 store, and the $1 bins at Target! I plan to have a seperate bowl of candy too for kids that don’t have allergies and would prefer candy just to keep everyone happy. I’ll see how that goes this year, but may switch to no candy next year. Who needs all that candy anyways? My kids certainly don’t!

So my challenge for you (and maybe a hint of begging) is please consider this for all those kids out there! I promise it wont cost that much more, and just think how rewarding it is to not only make all these kids so happy, but to also keep them healthy and safe!!

Have a great Halloween everyone!