Food Allergy Gift of Hope!

As I sit down to write this article for the holiday season, my initial intent was to provide a holiday shopping gift guide. However that all changed when I was recently approached by Food Allergy Initiative, a national non-profit organization that has contributed more than $60 million dollars towards finding the cause and cure for food allergies. They asked if I would participate in a letter writing campaign to Congresswoman Capps, asking for her support. Eureka! The prefect gift for the holiday season, the gift of “hope”, that each of us as a friend, relative, neighbor or community member can easily give.

Why should you care? Well, whether you know it or not, this “hidden disability” affect’s everyone. According to FAI, more than 12 million Americans suffer from food allergies and the number of children under age five with food allergies doubled from 1997-2002. Those children are now students in our school system and they require extra attention and care due to the severity of the situation. Schools must hire specially trained health staff, sanitize supplies and classroom implements, and train staff for emergencies that are inevitable not improbable. Every child deserves an education in a safe and secure environment but the schools need financial assistance managing and educating others regarding this potentially fatal disability.

The time couldn’t be more perfect for our voices to be heard. With all the discussion on Capital Hill regarding healthcare, it is time for our Congress and the Administration to devote more of their attention towards food allergies and how we can assist our communities and schools. Although the Government has allocated $17 million to the research and study of treatments to prevent these allergies, this pales in comparison to what has been provided to non fatal disabilities such as Attention Deficit Disorder which receives $107 million. It has become apparent that not enough Americans know about the importance of this issue or why it important as a community.

Yet another reason to act now, we are so close. According to FAI-USA, although researchers do not understand why rates are increasing so rapidly, specifically among children, they do believe they are about 10 years away from discovering treatments or even cures if they are able to continue their work. What we need to do is help ensure that our government representatives understand how serious this problem is, how much we need this research to continue and how imperative it is to support the school districts in which our children attend.

What you can do; Sign up as a supporter and learn more about increasing awareness by logging onto www.faiusa.org. Write a letter or call your elected officials to educate them on food allergy issues. Become an FAI regional coordinator. Ask five friends to join FAI’s advocacy team and follow FAI on Facebook and Twitter.

Give the gift of “hope”. Thank you from the food allergic community and have a Happy Holiday Season!