One Girl’s Mission Would Make Yakima a Safer Place for Trick-or-Treaters with Allergies

A Yakima student is raising awareness about about the Teal Pumpkin Project, which encourages families to sign up their homes as safe places to trick-or-treat for those afflicted by food allergies.

Faith Hall has struggled with severe food allergies, having 40 near-death experiences since she was a little girl. Now 14 years old and attending her first year at a school, the La Salle High School student has a mission to get the word out about food allergies and offer a solution to help.

But she told the Bull Pen with Rik, Michele and Cefus that "zero homes in Yakima were signed up, and that's sad when 1 in 6 people suffer from some form of food allergies."

She's on a mission to get Yakima homes on the map of safe places for those with food allergies to trick or treat. You can sign the pledge, add your house to the map and allow these kids to enjoy a safe, happy -- and allergen-free -- Halloween.

Some allergy-neutral Halloween treats that Faith recommends include: Erasers and pencils, mini activity pads, sticker books, glow sticks and bubbles. Cross contamination is also real concern, so these items should be kept in separate bowls. In fact Faith usually has a separate meal prepared due to the risk of coming in contact with something that could send her into anaphylactic shock.

Help Faith and all kids with food allergies feel welcome by joining the Teal Pumpkin Project. Yakima has ZERO houses on the map and we need to change that before Halloween.