Halloween Treats For Allergic Kids: Teal Pumpkin Project Raises Awareness on Allergy Sensitivity

Halloween is in the air and kids with food allergies wish to receive treats that are not restricted for them to eat. Good thing there are solutions like the Teal Pumpkin Project, which prompts people to be careful about which treats to drop inside children's pumpkins.

A Tennessee mom named Becky Basalone had an idea about four years ago. That is to make it less tricky for kids with food allergies through pumpkin design different from the traditional ones, which are orange smiling pumpkins.

Her idea gave birth to the Teal Pumpkin Project, which is now a nationwide effort to encourage families - whether their own kids have food restrictions or not so as to give some non-food treats on Oct. 31. This is basically done by putting a teal-colored pumpkin or sign outside the door and offering trick-or-treaters spider rings, glow sticks, Halloween stickers or other non-food goodies that come along with or instead of the traditional candies offered.

Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), a non-profit advocacy group, promoted this idea nationwide in 2014 through social media. After a year, 1 million people visited the group's website having had approximately 10,000 of them participating in the project. This year, the number of participants is expected to swell higher and so the awareness will be raised further.

"Our goal is to have a home on every block in America with a teal pumpkin. We hope that it becomes a new Halloween tradition." USA Today quoted Nancy Gregory, senior director of communications, as saying.

One mother from Chevy Chase Village Md., Natalie Wilensky, said that she is putting out a teal pumpkin because it is of help for her children with food restrictions. She bakes a birthday cake or takes a treat to school, which actually a way to teach her unaffected son Jacob, 7, to think of others.

The goal of the project is beyond giving kids what they want. It is also a way to let them learn to be sensitive to other people.

The project has now commercial tie-ins. FARE has licensed Teal Pumpkin Project products whether it is a foam pumpkin, painting kits or other goodies. Some of the partners on the list are Michael's, CVS, Oriental Trading Company, and Party City. The organization also gets a cut for its research, education and advocacy programs.