Consider these food policy best practices as you cook up VBS at your church this summer. These guidelines will help your church create a safe and hospitable environment for all kids—including those with food allergies.

At VBS, navigating food allergies can be a challenge. But serving food is a small way to show kids God’s great love for them. We serve snacks to delight kids, satisfy those grumbly tummies, and create a hospitable space where we can simply enjoy each other’s company.

For years at Group, we’ve talked about radical hospitality. It’s one of four loving principles that will change your ministry! This Jesus-centered approach genuinely welcomes others. Radical hospitality is about accepting people—allergies and all!

Allergy Alert!

A report from the Food Allergy Research & Education organization reveals that 5.8 percent of children aged 0-17 have been diagnosed with a food allergy. That’s about 1 in 17 children. Food allergy prevalence among kids has been increasing over the years. Some of the most common food allergies for kids include shellfish, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, fin fish, wheat, soy, and sesame.

Understandably, parents of children with food allergies are extra cautious about their kids’ participation in camps or playdates. Even eating at restaurants can be more stressful than enjoyable for families with food allergies. Signing their kids up for VBS may be kind of scary.

That’s why your children’s ministry must provide radical hospitality to kids who have food allergies this VBS season. A thorough, clear, and well-communicated food policy is the first step toward serving families well. A food policy is filled with small ways to show great love to all families at your church—including those navigating food allergies each day.

Step #1: Collect food allergy information.

In-Person Registration

The first step to welcoming a new family to church or a new child to VBS is to say “Hello!” and “Welcome!” The second step is to have grown-ups fill out a registration form that includes food allergy information about their child. Click here for a simple registration form from Group’s Easy VBS.

Registration forms take time to complete. And that can be super stressful on the first day of VBS. But don’t skip this step. Have paper forms handy on clipboards so kids’ grown-ups can step aside and fill out the form before completing check-in.

Preregistration

Here’s an even better idea! Have digital registration available online ahead of time. This allows families to preregister kids before they attend VBS and complete registration from the comfort of home. VBS Pro is one of many digital registration options.

Collect this important information annually. Even if a child has attended VBS before or is on your weekend roster, every child needs a fresh registration form every summer.

When Kids Bring a Friend

When a child brings a friend, insist that the grown-ups inquire and state the friend’s info, too. Don’t let the busy shuffle keep you from showing great love to that little guest! Many check-in databases allow you to add a guest to a family’s profile or link a child to a family’s profile.

Proactively Connect With Kids’ Grown-ups

When you see an allergy noted in preregistration, follow up with a phone call to that child’s grown-up. Your proactive communication will help put caregivers at ease. If medication like an EpiPen or antihistamine needs to be kept on hand, decide with the parent where it will be stored and who can administer it if needed.

Step #2: Communicate food allergies to volunteers.

These days, it’s common for children to receive a name tag when checked in for VBS each day or children’s ministry each week. If it’s a printed sticker, note allergies in a clear way—perhaps in noticeable, highlighted text. At my church, leaders look for the “black bar” that’s printed on name tags. The bar is clearly seen, and the specific allergy is in small, lighter print inside.

If you have lanyards with name tags, consider adding a color-coded sticker that alerts volunteers to a food allergy. Seeing the sticker will prompt them to look for specifics on the name tag.

Additionally, print allergy information on rosters or attendance sheets. Distribute the sheets after check-in concludes so station leaders and snack preparers have up-to-date information about who is in their care that day and what those kids need.

Step #3: Communicate snacks to families.

Post a daily menu in the check-in area or beside classroom doors. This knowledge may ease worries and wonderings and allow kids and families to prepare accordingly. For example, if parents see goldfish crackers on the menu, they might remind kids and their leaders that a gluten-free alternative is needed.

In addition to posting a paper menu, consider including this information in an email to parents ahead of time. Information can help ease anxiety and give you time to accommodate a child’s needs.

It may be best for your church to proactively go “nut free.” That means you’ll never serve nut products at church. Communicating that policy will help guide choices and put kids and their grown-ups at ease.

Step #4 (this is the fun one!): Serve kids snacks.

Always, always have alternatives. And quietly offer them to kids who communicate an allergy. Even if it’s not listed on rosters or noted on name tags, believe kids and honor their wishes.

If possible, offer the alternative discreetly. Consider this sobering statistic: About 1 in 3 kids with food allergies report being bullied due to that food allergy. As much as possible, make food accommodation a well-communicated norm instead of a fussed-about exception.

Our Approach at Group VBS

At Group’s VBS field test, our amazing food prep team created a snack tray for each Crew. When an alternative snack was needed for one child, it was quietly placed on the tray with the child’s name. Consider these simple instructions from the Crave VBS Snack Leader Manual:

• Each day, place your completed Allergy Alerts form in a prominent place where it’s easy to read and reference.
• Place any alternative snack foods away from the other foods.
• Designate one or two people to prepare trays for Crews with food allergies for the week. This will provide a focused effort for no cross contamination of ingredients and potential allergens. Inform these volunteers each day of the alternative foods you’re providing for kids with allergies.
• Attach a sticky note with the name of the child each alternative snack belongs to or place the snack in a resealable plastic bag and write the child’s name directly on the bag.
• Carefully check ingredient lists, as some food is made in facilities that also process peanuts or other potential allergens.

Allergy Friendly Alternatives

Last summer, we served yummy strawberries with hazelnut spread. A child with a nut allergy needed chocolate hummus instead of hazelnut spread. It turns out, all the kids in her crew preferred the healthier hummus! It created a fun opportunity for kids to show radical hospitality as they cared for each other’s needs.

Here are a few easy alternatives we’ve found over the years—including suggestions from the Easy VBS snack station. Snack guides are available in every VBS Starter Kit!

• Instead of peanut butter, try hummus!
• Instead of ice cream, try frozen fruit pops!
• Instead of cheese sticks, try veggie sticks!
• Instead of cookies, try flavored rice cakes!
• Instead of crackers, try gluten-free popcorn! (age appropriate)
• Instead of sandwich bread, try corn tortillas!

Step #5: Know what to do in a food allergy emergency.

If a child accidentally consumes an allergen, alert parents.

Then alert your VBS nurse. (An often overlooked but extremely essential VBS volunteer!) The nurse will be equipped and ready to help administer meds provided in case of emergency.

Watch for signs like trouble breathing, swelling in the throat, or throwing up. If you see those signs, call 911.

Stir Up a Hunger for Jesus

Pardon the pun, but establishing and following a food policy at your church isn’t always a piece of cake. But when small things are done with great love, kids and their grown-ups experience Jesus’ love and care through you. You’ll really stir up a hunger for Jesus when you go above and beyond to meet kids’ food allergy needs.

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Need more info about serving snacks at church? Check out these 7 Tips for Handling Snacks in Your Children’s Ministry.