SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Halloween is around the corner and many people have already decorated their homes with orange pumpkins — but there's a nationwide movement to use teal pumpkins to help create a more inclusive Halloween for all trick-or-treaters.
Christy Navarro lives in Sacramento and she's going all out for the spooky season. Each Halloween, she decorates her home with pumpkins, black cats, skeletons, and more.
"I love Halloween," said Navarro. "It is the best thing. I love to see all the kids dress up. We have Mortimer, who is dressed as Harry Potter and we have little Jimmy, who has a harmonica and he will sing. I think it brings out the kid in all of us."
Just like Christy, thousands of people across the nation are putting a teal pumpkin on their doorstep or raising a teal flag for Halloween. It means they're offering other options for trick-or-treaters with food allergies.
"We always include fun stuff for the kids with allergies, like stickers, glow sticks, spider rings pencils and erasers," said Navarro. "The children get to come and pick out whatever they want."
It's all part of The Teal Pumpkin Project adopted by Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). It's a nonprofit that supports people with food allergies. The organization says, one in 13 children live with food allergies.
"The Teal Pumpkin Project is a movement to raise awareness about food allergies and to create a safer and more inclusive inclusive Halloween for all trick-or-treaters," said Tiffany Leon with FARE. "A lot of the popular candies contain some of the allergens, like peanuts, tree nut, milk, eggs, wheat, soy and sesame. When children with food allergies cannot have these candies, they cannot participate fully in the holiday."
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FARE launched an interactive map to help families find homes that offer candy and other options for children with allergies. The organization says the more homes added to the map, the more inclusive Halloween becomes.
"You can see other houses in your neighborhood that are participating and you can plan ahead of time to hit all the houses that have these teal pumpkins," said Leon.
Christy signed up for the map to help families in the Greater Sacramento region. She also plans on getting a teal pumpkin soon to add to the teal flag she got from FARE. The flag is already posted outside of her home with other Halloween decorations to welcome all.
"It takes very little effort to include everybody," said Navarro. "It's just a quick little addition and you will have all kinds of more kids, more costumes, more fun."
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