Red Sneaker Day Spotlight: Eleni Angelos

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.

Eleni Angelos is a Red Sneaker Ambassador. She is a student at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. She decided to use a class assignment to help spread food allergy awareness and education! Here is what she did…

“For my Advanced Composition class, we had been working on a research project for most of the semester. I have had lifelong anaphylactic food allergies and have had to manage them through various scenarios and environments I have encountered. Now being a college and premedical student, navigating my allergens has been a challenge yet something I am still dedicated to learning more about. I decided to do mine [research project] at looking at the various physical, social, emotional, and economical benefits of having allergy friendly food options available and specifically highlighted a few brands that are top 9 allergen free. At the end of the semester for a final project, our teacher wanted us to depict our research in a creative medium. I immediately thought that this could be a great way to spread the word about Red Sneakers for Oakley and advocate. So, in collaboration with my teacher and after reaching out from the Florida representative for RSFO, I gathered materials and information I wanted other students and staff to know. Since the holidays are coming up, I thought it was vital to also touch on how one can stay safe and have fun during the season. Food is such a huge part of celebration, and people with allergies often feel fearful and isolated in those situations. By bringing in some popular allergy friendly holiday snacks, I hoped to show the community at Nova how it is possible to enjoy the holidays and stay safe. I got to meet a lot of students, those with allergies and without, and seeing them all enjoy the treats gave me hope for a more inclusive safe world for those with severe food allergies. About 100 students stopped by to grab a treat and see what it was about.”