Red Sneaker Day Spotlight: Shiven Pulgam
Red Sneaker Days provides a “day” when everyone wears their red sneakers/shoes (or anything red) and participates together to raise awareness for the dangers of food allergies. The goal is not only to increase education and awareness to the communities of those suffering with food allergies, but just as importantly, to educate those who are not directly affected by them.
By Shiven Pulgam
“Hey everybody, I’m Shiven Pulgam in Grade 11. I live in Hyderabad, India, and I work with Avyay Bharath on food allergy awareness. Having seen the people around me struggle, including my best friend, has pushed me to join Avyay in a fight for an allergy-safe world. A lot of people in India don’t consider nutrition, especially allergens, to be a significant concern. Our goal, as a ‘project’, is to improve the quality of life for many Indians. We intend to do this by increasing our country’s awareness of allergens. Our primary goal is to bring awareness to this cause by representing it in public places.
For example, recently, we have advocated at a restaurant near my house, “Sage”. At this restaurant, we spoke to the heads of staff regarding the importance of allergens. So far, we’ve conducted a presentation, and soon, based on the restaurant's requirements, we’d like to implement a lanyard or bracelet system. The staff have been very receptive, and, in the future, we could maybe even do this at airports.
Another thing that we bring to the table is the aid of doctors. For our first project, we brought in Dr. Sivaranjani, MBBS, who helped educate everyone about choking and CPR and what to do in the worst-case scenario, as we believe prevention is better than a cure. However, when prevention isn’t an option, a cure is good to know. Partnering with Red Sneakers for Oakley has helped us reach new heights, and we are grateful for this.
Thank you,
Shiven Pulgam
International School of Hyderabad”
