Halloween Treat Map returns to help kids with allergies feel included

As many households get ready for Halloween by setting up spooky decorations and stocking up on candy, some are making their own preparations to ensure kids with allergies don’t feel left behind.

For the fourth year, Nextdoor Canada has partnered with Food Allergy Canada to launch the Halloween Treat Map, which allows people to let others in their area know if they’ll be doling out allergy-friendly treats.

“We learned that there are 600,000 Canadian kids that have some really serious food allergies, so the Treat Map on Nextdoor allows a family to plan out their route for Halloween to include houses that have marked that they’re giving out allergy-free treats for kids,” explained Christopher Doyle, the managing director of Nextdoor Canada.

Nextdoor Canada is a platform that lets people explore and find out what’s happening in their neighbourhoods. The Treat Map is available through the company’s app.

Doyle tells CityNews people can “pin” their homes on the map, which then allows families to seek out appropriate homes.

As well as highlighting whether or not allergy-free treats are being handed out, Doyle says the Treat Map also allows households to let people know about decorations, if they have a haunted house, and even if they’re handing out full-size candy bars or alternatives to candy.

“That could be toys or stickers or other things,” Doyle said.

“So, then, on the other side, families can look at the map and … can say, ‘Oh yeah, let’s make sure we hit this street because they’ve got allergy-free treats that they’re giving out.’ And that’s where the partnership with Food Allergy Canada comes in because we’re amplifying their program, which is, we’re asking neighbours to shine a teal light if they do have allergy-free treat, for neighbours to know that that’s a safe environment for them to go into.”

The Light the Way campaign Doyle is referring to has been running for several years now. Through it, Food Allergy Canada encourages households that are handing out allergy-free treats to swap out their regular porch light or display other sources of teal lights outside their homes.

“Shining a teal light helps to create food allergy awareness and sparks conversations on how to support kids with food allergy,” the organization explains.

Meanwhile, Doyle says the Treat Map is available across Canada and is localized and built by neighbourhood so you can focus on where you are.

He says there has been “an incredible response” to the map over the years from neighbourhoods.

“We were just looking at some of the insights and some of the responses from neighbours that are just so thankful that Nextdoor is doing this and that we’re raising awareness around these issues,” Doyle explained. “Like I said, so many children suffer from food allergies. We actually see an 85 per cent spike in anaphylactic reactions around Halloween specifically. When we saw that number, it just even confirmed why we need to do this and why we need to raise this awareness.”

According to Doyle, many parents have also reached out to express their gratitude.

“It helps them get something done in their neighbourhood as they’re planning their trick-or-treat route,” he said.