Rockefeller Student Champions Safer Halloween for Children with Food Allergies

Two photos: Teal pumpkin lanterns on the left and Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS representatives at a truck-or-treat event on the right.

Teal pumpkin lanterns (left); Clifton Park & Halfmoon Emergency Corps at a truck-or-treat event (right).

ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 23, 2026) — Maggie Collins wants to make teal the new orange this Halloween season.

A second-year student in Rockefeller College’s Master of Public Administration program, Collins is working with the Clifton Park & Halfmoon Emergency Corps Inc. to promote the Teal Pumpkin Project, which encourages people to offer non-food trinkets and toys to make trick-or-treating a safer experience for children with food allergies.

“Growing up with food allergies, it was always difficult for me to find inclusivity and community in a world that did not understand,” Collins said. “Seeing things begin to change and spaces being created where kids with food allergies can feel included while still being kept safe is so important to me. Using the platform I have been given to bring more attention to this fantastic initiative has been incredibly fulfilling.”

Maggie Collins, an MPA student at Rockefeller College

According to Food Allergy Research & Education, the organization which developed the Teal Pumpkin Project, one in three children have a life-threatening food allergy in the United States and a food allergy reaction sends a patient to the emergency room every 10 seconds. The team at Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS has gone on many food allergy-related calls over the years. Last year alone, they administered 22 EpiPens to patients.

Collins, who is allergic to tree nuts, knows what it's like to be on the other end of those emergency calls.

Growing up in Rotterdam, her family offered a teal pumpkin each Halloween for children in their neighborhood with food allergies. When Collins started interning last year at Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS as part of her studies in the MPA program, she saw an opportunity to bring the Teal Pumpkin Project into the outreach work the agency was already undertaking.

“This was something I really wanted to do, and it meant a lot to me,” Collins said.

Using skills she honed in the MPA program, she helped arrange a partnership with Certified Allergy and Asthma Consultants, wrote memos to Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS and local press, and advocated for the project on social media and at local trunk-or-treat events. She was also interviewed by CBS 6 for a news story about the project.

“At a lot of places that we went to last year, people were asking questions about it. They wanted to know more,” Collins said.

As part of their community outreach efforts, Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS also introduced free EpiPen training classes to help residents recognize severe allergic reactions and understand how to administer epinephrine during an emergency. This year, she is working to grow the Teal Pumpkin Project locally with the Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS, getting the word out through trunk-or-treat events and on social media. While her internship with the agency ended in May, she continued working there as a special projects coordinator, which has reshaped her career plans.

“I had this whole plan for my life, and this job has actually derailed it,” Collins said.

She planned to become a lawyer and work on artificial intelligence policy and had majored in English with a law and philosophy minor at the University at Albany, receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2023. But after working at Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS and completing some of the classes through Rockefeller’s MPA program, her goals are shifting.

“Being in the program has pushed me in another direction,” Collins said.

Recently, she planned a major fundraising gala to support Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS and helped with several other advocacy projects. Collins noted she has appreciated seeing an immediate impact from her work. It has also been satisfying to directly bring what she is learning in the classroom to her job.

“I was an English major and I've always been very right-brained,” Collins said. “Economics was very hard for me. The Excel classes were very hard for me, and I was taking the Excel classes and asking myself, ‘When am I going to use this?’”

The answer came when she planned the anniversary gala, which celebrated Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS’ 75th anniversary and brought in $27,000.

“I made so many spreadsheets,” Collins said with a laugh.

Earlier this month, she also wrote an issue brief on the Teal Pumpkin Project for PAD 613, taught by Professor Susan Appe.

“For me, as the MPA Program Director and PAD 613 Professor, this kind of story reminds me that so many of our MPA students are already doing great public service work in our communities,” Appe said. “In MPA coursework, they are able to reflect on this work and continue to build the skills and competencies to expand it.”

Anyone who would like to participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project can purchase a teal lantern at CVS locations and other national retailers and fill it with small toys or party favors including packs of crayons, bubbles, mini slinkies, spider rings, vampire fangs, etc. For more information visit foodallergy.org.