Halloween is an exciting time -- but it can also be discouraging for children with allergies.
The Teal Pumpkin Project aims to bring the magic back to the spooky holiday in a thrilling but safe way.
According to Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), one in 13 kids deal with food allergies. With FARE's teal pumpkin initiative, Halloween becomes safer and more inclusive for all.
The process is simple: if there's a teal pumpkin outside a house, that means the host is offering a non-food goodie for its trick-or-treaters. It can be a small toy, a game, stickers or anything else fun for the children to receive.
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Former NFL star Jason McCourty is an avid supporter of the initiative, especially since his youngest daughter deals with allergies to foods that often appear in Halloween candy.
"Now that I'm a father and have kids, three of them, my youngest one suffers from severe food allergies," McCourty said in an interview with NBC. "The process of coming home, dumping the candy out and going through it for me as a kid was making sure there was nothing that was opened. And now when my daughter went out, it was completely different because she has a milk, eggs, peanut and tree nut allergy.
"So, now you're going through it and you have to take out everything that she could possibly be allergic to. And then there's other forms of it where there are some kids that you could possibly go trick-or-treating and there's nothing that you can have when it comes to the treats that different families give out when you go door to door."
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That's where the Teal Pumpkin Project comes in, so families don't have to go through that process. All you have to do is go to CVS, which is the exclusive retail partner of the initiative and FARE for the third year in a row. CVS is selling a selection of over 60 non-food, allergy-friendly treats both in stores and online. You can also sign up to mark your house as a teal pumpkin participant through CVS here.
"The Teal Pumpkin Project was created and the thought was you put a teal pumpkin out there and those families are giving out non-food treats for kids," McCourty explained. "It could be small toys, anything of that nature so that a kid can come and get something and go home and feel really good about it and not have to have the fear of a parent over your shoulder of making sure it's not something that you're allergic to.
"It hit home for me because I remember my youngest, probably the first time she was old enough to walk around and go door to door, she literally walked right into somebody's living room thinking that it was a proper way to do it when they open the door and not understanding what trick-or-treating was... So, just a peace of mind that it can give a parent to see that there's a family participating and their kid can go out there and get a treat and know that it's not anything that's going to harm them."
McCourty is a father of three, and even though only his youngest is affected by allergies, all of his children love seeing a teal pumpkin house. Even though they know it won't be candy at the door, the unknown of what the treat could be is extra exciting.
"I think the cool thing is (my kids) are now 11, 8, and 7," McCourty said. "And when you go to a house, whether it's a sign in a window, whether it's the teal pumpkin outside and you see it, the cool part is that it's not just my youngest daughter, Kai, that gets excited, but the two oldest get excited too because it's a little bit of a mystery. You go up and you don't know. You know the threat is not going to be anything food related, but you don't know exactly what it's going to be. So, they can get excited for it as well. And then they still can compare and talk about it."
For parents, learning about what allergies your children may have can be overwhelming. For McCourty, the most important part of that learning process is just being open and honest.
"Have conversations about it," McCourty said when asked about how to approach allergies with kids. "I think that's the biggest thing because you don't know what you don't know. And my youngest one, when she was born and once we discovered what her food allergies are, you start having conversations.
"... It is a relief as a parent when you're walking around, especially from my wife and she sees it, cause she's the one who's always antennas are up. So, it is something that we look forward to of going out. And it's also family time and it's a time to learn because all three of my kids, only one of them suffered from it, but the other two fully understand what all of her allergies are and they understand what she can and can't have and they are not shy to tell her about it."
With Halloween quickly approaching, the McCourtys are ready to go.
Not only will they have the teal pumpkin at their house, but the whole family will be dressed up to celebrate.
"Man, that's a process in the McCourty household," he joked when asked about costumes this year. "My wife is clinging to the thought of family costumes. So, the last probably two to three years, it always starts in an argument because the kids don't want to wear the same themed costume as their parents. But right now we have a Sonic the Hedgehog theme going that we're almost, we need about one more costume to find the right size.
"But we got Sonic, we have Tails, we have Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik. So, we're figuring that out of all the sizes. And then the kids, my wife will let them choose a second costume that they can just be whatever they want to be. I think my son may take the cake -- he's Skibidi Toilet, whatever that term means now. If you have young kids, they come home saying these random words. So, that's what his costume is."
You can find more information about the Teal Pumpkin Project and FARE here.
