Food Allergy Hero of the Month: Luca Pinkowski
By Courtney Pinkowski
My name is Courtney Pinkowski and I am a mother of a 3.5 year old with food allergies. Luca is allergic to dairy, eggs and peanuts. Ever since he was diagnosed when he was 6 months old, I've done everything I can to learn about food allergies in order to advocate for him. Now that he is a little older, he is learning to advocate for himself, although he still needs my help sometimes. Like one of the times we were at our local park and a little girl was playing on the same playground as Luca. The little girl offered some of her candy to Luca, just trying to be nice. She handed Luca the candy and before he could ask me if it was safe, he had eaten it. He had a reaction, but luckily it was a minor one. I had always noticed wrappers on the playgrounds and people eating near or on the equipment, but after this incident, I became even more cautious of the food found around playgrounds and I decided to do something about it.
I went online and found the addresses and emails of my local city council members and mayor. I wrote them letters and emails explaining the difficulties shared public places can bring for the food allergy community. In my letters, I shared some information on the dangers of cross-contact and attached four different food allergy park signs I found online to show them examples of what I thought would help keep food allergy families safe while visiting parks and playgrounds. It was my letters to the city council members and mayor that really got the ball rolling for the signs to be put up. My letter read:
"I am a mother of a 3 year old with several food allergies and I would like to propose we put up signs at the seven Bastrop parks with playgrounds that simply ask people not to eat on the playgrounds and to clean their hands after eating. I have attached some examples. Did you know researchers estimate that 32 million Americans have food allergies, including 5.6 million children under age 18. That’s one in 13 children, or roughly two in every classroom. Every three minutes, a food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room. A food allergy can turn places that should be fun for a child into a potential danger. This is true of playgrounds. While playgrounds are places for being active, playing and interacting with other children, they also create a space where children can become exposed to a food allergen. Of course, signs are not fail-proof, because people may not always notice or follow them, but they are a step in the right direction toward helping children with food allergies. The more we can designate and separate areas for eating and areas for other activities, the better and safer life can be for children with food allergies. Also, signs educate the public about allergies and teach them how they can play a part to help. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my proposal to put signs up at the parks."
I then attended the City Parks Council Meeting to speak from my heart and share the facts about food allergies. At the meeting, I was able to share more food allergy facts (thank you Red Sneakers for Oakley for the resources!) and why the food allergy signs at the parks would make the playgrounds more inclusive for children with food allergies.
"I recently did a poll in Tahitian Village (my local neighborhood) and out of 67 people, 36 said they knew someone with food allergies. 1 in 13 children have food allergies and children like my son, Luca, need to avoid their allergens, including cross-contact with even tiny amounts of food proteins. After an accidental exposure, such as touching a peanut, cheese-it or open wrapper left on a playground and then putting a finger in their mouth or nose – or rubbing an eye, they risk having the severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. Our playgrounds would benefit from having both English and Spanish signs installed, to better communicate with our city’s bilingual families. I've noticed signs like the ones I'm proposing go up in New York; and recently, the Parks and Recreation Department in Harlingen, Texas put up 18 signs. While we can’t guarantee a “safe” environment, you can certainly reduce risks. I firmly believe that food allergy children deserve to be able to fully enjoy themselves in our parks. With these signs, we can help make it a less risky environment"
The city council members loved the idea and were very supportive of my mission. They shared that they were currently redoing all of our parks signs and that the food allergy signs would be going up with all the new signs! Doing all of this was completely out of my comfort zone, but I am so glad I did it and advocated for my son and all the other food allergy families in our community. I wanted to share how I was able to accomplish getting the food allergy signs in my local park in hopes that other food allergy families might be able to do the same thing in their neighborhoods. I hope this gives you the courage to try as well!
