NEW Not-for-Profit Food Allergy Support Services
Today has been a great day for my family. We have been working with the Buffalo News to develop a public awareness article regarding Food Allergies. It hit the papers today!
To view the article please use the following link: http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/632305.html
My husband and I have spent the past several months discussing ways to help our family and to help the many other families dealing with food allergies. I have made it my mission to develop a public awareness campaign and launch my Not-for-Profit Agency, Food Allergy Support Services.
We are here to help families through first diagnosis, holiday stress, every day life, school and beyond. We don’t like feeling alone & confused and neither does anyone else. Our support groups have been FANTASTIC! I don’t know what I would have done without them!
We want to take things to the next level. With the additional support of Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, Allergist Dr. Andrew Green and Dr. Hugh A. Sampson, Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital NYC we are well on our way to exceeding our goals!
My first priority is to educate the public about food allergies. They need to understand our daily life, not as hysterial parents, but as parents who love their children and are doing everything they possibly can to make their world a safe place to live.
My next priority is to bring support services to parents of food allergy families.
- I want caseworkers available for families after every confirmatory food allergy appointment. They will meet with families at home & keep in touch with them as they learn to navigate life with food allergies
- We will provide Counseling to families on an individual and group basis. Anxiety & food allergies are synonymous
- If necessary we will take it a step further and provide psychological services for “every day” use. Sometimes we have bad days, there should be someone to listen
- Nutritional counseling will be available, not only for children with multiple food allergies, but for those parents who want to learn more about cooking healthy meals using foods they aren’t used to using
- We also want to provide transition counseling to families ready to plunge into a school setting, letting go of your food allergy child
- Of course our support groups will be going strong and hopefully the meetings will be better attended and more regular. With ample funding we should have the ability to attract excellent speakers…or hopefully educate some professionals to speak to us.
- Education will be a HIGH priority. We want food allergies to be in the continuing education curriculum for physicians, teachers, nurses, etc. We will hold seminars for groups to help bring greater awareness of the dangers of food allergies
- And lastly, Food Allergy Support Services will have it’s own website & 800# to connect to it’s members & anyone who needs our services
I will never charge parents to use my services. From time to time I may sell products through our site to help defray the cost of our programs, however I am hopeful donations from private sources will provide us with the ability to fulfill our goals and dreams!
Please think of Food Allergy Support Services and the many children it will help in the Buffalo area to expand their world one step at a time!
Yours Truly,
The Popek Family …Chris, Tom, Eddie & Sam
Great article in the Buffalo News today! I wish you had been around 5 years ago when my son was born and I applaud your efforts. He had cows milk and peanut allergies when he was born. He was less than 4 months old when I figured this out (on my own with limited resources found on the internet) and he was ONLY breastfeed. He would get eczema from what I was eating. Funny thing is NO ONE believed me, especially the doctors. I eliminated most food from my diet and added back in to see what would make him breakout. Milk was the 1st one. The first day I took out milk and he slept much better that night (he always seemed to have a cold until that day). After that, I noticed that nuts were a trigger. He is 5 now and has never had nuts. He was breastfed until 3-1/2. At about 4 he was able to consume milk products without issue, though he still doesn’t go out of his way to drink milk. Even 5 years ago, it was very hard to decipher ingredient lists. What a relief it was when they became stricter about that, about one year into my ordeal. What would have be very concerning was if he wasn’t breastfeeding, I would have had a very hard time finding a formula that he could use, since they say that soy and milk allergies can be common together. He has not been to an allergist yet. He goes to a school that is good about allergies right now (EduKids) but starts kindergarden next year in a rural community. What is scary is how ignorant people can be. I found that if I say he has an allergy to nuts, many people don’t realize PEANUT BUTTER has nuts in it!! Keep up the good work!
My son was tested and diagnosed with a fatal peanut allergy when he was a yr. and a half and diagnosed with a beef allergy about a yr. ago. It was scary and even worse was trying to get the babysitters (aka grandmas and grandpas) to understand the severity of the situation. Example: Honey Nut Cheerios is ok because it has nut flavoring. Anyway, after 2 years of re-programming them, we are now looking forward to my son hopefully starting in a preschool in Sept. but also am feeling the anxiety of him being in another environment that could cause a reaction. We’ve been blessed that we have not had to reach for the Epi-Pen as of yet but are ever vigilant with label reading and educating him as well as our family and friends on what is safe for him and what safe foods are now not safe from processing changes.
I read The Buffalo News article and as a mom of a “peanut kid” am glad there is someplace local for networking and the likes for information. On the professional side, I saw a possible opportunity for you to look in the future for funding. You could try looking to Variety-The Children’s Charity of Buffalo & WNY. The monies raised from the Annual Variety Kids Telethon benefits sick children at the Robert Warner Rehab. Center and the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo as well as local children’s charities. These funds are allocated through a committee. As long as you are non-profit status ( 501 C3), the committee takes requests for funding to organizations who help children in some way whether it be through programs, medical services, etc. The funding cannot go toward salaries but to the direct needs of the children themselves. I know you’re working on the non-profit status but I just wanted to throw the idea out to you.
Thank you for everything you’ve done and keep up the great work!!!!!