Allergy-Friendly Easter Egg Hunt

Last weekend we went to our first ever community Easter Egg Hunt. We’ve avoided public Easter Egg Hunts in the past years, because as much as I hate to admit it, the traditional Easter Egg Hunts were off limits to our family because of my son’s allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and wheat. This year, Nina Pereira answered many allergy-parents’ wishes and hosted an Allergy Free Easter Egg Hunt, where everything was free from wheat, gluten, dairy, egg, soy & nuts!

Nina is the owner and operator of Spa Vaidosa & Skin Care Centre in Burlington, Ontario. Her 3 year old daughter Chloe has anaphylaxis to wheat, gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, raw egg and tahini. As a skin therapist she always wanted to help people, but her experience as an allergy-mom has evolved her desire to help into something greater. After a number of poor experiences, she realized that she needed to make a difference and give children an opportunity to be kids! After all, kids deserve to be treated equally.

The event was a big success. My kids had a blast and enjoyed all of the games, activities, crafts and allergy-friendly treats. Just as importantly, Food Allergy Canada information pamphlets were available for anyone to take to help increase public awareness and education about food allergies.

Thank you Nina and Chloe for throwing an event that allowed all children an opportunity to be kids! See you next year!

 

 

 

 

A note from the Organizer:

My heart is exploding with joy having experienced my 1st Allergy Free Easter Egg Hunt. I didn’t get a chance to personally speak to some of you, but I am so thankful to have shared this special moment with all of you. When I decided to do this, I figured a few kids would sign up. I didn’t expect the sheer volume and excitement! At the end of the day, my goal is to give my daughter the best childhood ever. If I can share my knowledge and resources with others I will and for this reason I will always be a food allergy advocate! To all the Allergy Parents, thank-you for putting your trust in me to put together this event for your children. As an allergy parent myself I know how overwhelming it can be to have to weigh the risks for our children and hope for the best. I commend you for all that you do to keep your kids safe bc it’s not always easy. I also know how heart breaking it can be to be the ‘bad parent’ and have to take things away especially when your kid just wants to be a kid like a everyone else – this is why I tried my best to keep this event as authentic as possible. What I’ve come to learn is that ppl fear what they don’t know and for this reason I chose to donate proceeds to @FoodAllergyCanada bc they are at the forefront fighting for our rights to ensure proper food labelling, quality and safety so that hopefully one day it’ll be that much easier to have all inclusive events. Thank-you to our volunteers, family and friends for all your love and support! Thank-you to our sponsors @salon360burlington, @sweetbowties, @mediumartstudio, @thelittlegym, @burlingtonpediatricdentistry, @Michaels, @spa_vaidosa Last but not least, a big thank-you to MacFadyen Preschool Academy for letting us use their facility. MacFadyen was the only daycare of many we interviewed that took my daughter in with open arms and have worked closely with us to ensure that she is well cared for – it was a perfect fit! Cheers to a beautiful day and wonderful memories made, I wish you all a great weekend and a very Happy Easter! Sincerely; Nina xoxo #allergyfreeeaster2017 #foodallergyadvocate #lemonsintolemonade #foodallergymom #allergyfreeegghunt

A post shared by Nina Pereira (@lemons_into_lemonade) on Apr 9, 2017 at 12:55pm PDT