Red Sneaker Day Spotlight: Noelle Nelson

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.

Red Sneakers Day October 2023

By Noelle Nelson

A few weeks ago, I hosted a Red Sneakers Day at the local elementary school where I attended from kindergarten to eighth grade (about 300 students)! First, I created a video where I explained in less than three minutes food allergies, empathy, dangers of food allergy bullying, and how to support food allergy awareness! In the video, I also included a feature from my friend who also has food allergies. Then, I created a flier that was sent out to all the families asking them to have their children wear red sneakers or teal/red socks. In the flier, we asked families to donate a dollar to Red Sneakers for Oakley and ended with over $207 in donations!

On the day of the event, my younger sister and I went to the school with red sneakers and red and teal clothing. I passed out bracelets to the students ages four to fourteen and we took pictures with all of their red and teal! Students watched the video and I spoke in every classroom about why we wear red and teal bracelets. Additionally, students completed an activity from my Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness Curriculum that I created in 2022. In the activity, called “Empathy Shoes,” students reflect on how they have or will show empathy and compassion to someone and one thing they learned about food allergies! Check it out here: https://teachtealfoodallergyawareness.weebly.com. I ended by handing out information cards to the teachers and staff. Thank you to everyone who wore red and teal for the event! I am so glad I was able to teach kids of all ages about food allergies during this Red Sneakers Day!