Food Allergy Fun Fair Update!!!

The first annual Food Allergy Fun Fair will take place on Saturday, June 13th at 11AM. We will be having lots of information about food allergies, displays of products available, sign up sheet for a local support group, and music by local children's musician Terry A La Berry!!!

I am extending an invitation to ANYONE who sells products related to food allergies: if you would like to send me brocures, samples, etc. to put on display, please contact me and I will put them on display for you. If you would like to come to Massachusetts and set up a table of your own, you can do that too!!!

Please feel free to post this event on your website or blog!!!

Angel Service Dogs

Angel Service Dogs is an organization that raises and trains dogs to detect a certain allergen in any form (i.e. oil, raw, cooked, airborne). I have not had any personal experience with these dogs, but I think that it is a wonderful idea and I can't wait to see how this area of service dogs grows!!! Has anyone had any personal experiences with service dogs for food allergies? I would love to hear from you!!!

For those of you not familiar with this organization, you can find them at http://www.angelservicedogs.com/ or visit them at the Thrive Allergy Expo in Chicago on April 18th and 19th.

Food Allergy Fun Fair!!!

I know that it seems far away, but on June 13th I will be hosting a Food Allergy Fun Fair at the United Methodist Church of Lenox, 6 Holmes Road, Lenox, MA, 01240 on June 13th @11AM.

Please come and meet me, find out some information, and visit with others!!! Terry "A La Berry" and his band will be perfoming children's music!!! Donations of time, money, and items needed!!! Please contact me at foodallergyedu@yahoo.com or stop by my website and contact me!!!

One other thing...please commnent and let me know what YOU would like to see at this event, on this blog, and on my website. I am still new at all this and would love your input!!!

Thanks!!!

FREE!!!

Special deal for all businesses, restaurants, community groups, schools, etc. I am offering a FREE 1/2 hour consultation to discuss what options I have available to help promote food allergy awareness and education in your workplace. Visit my website at http://www.berkshirefacs.org and fill out the "Contact Us" section and mention code "MC02" in the "Comments" field.

Let's work together to increase public knowledge and acceptance of food allergies!!!

Support Groups

I have not been involved with a support group because the closest one is over 2 hours away. Do you belong to a support group? How far do you travel? How often do you meet? I am asking these questions because I am interested in starting a support group in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. If anyone is interested in helping out or joining a support group, please let me know. Have you had a wonderful (or horrible) experience with a support group? Please feel free to share your opinions. As I have said before, we are all in this together, and we need to support and encourage each other in this adventure.

Bread

Ok. For those of you who don't have food allergies, this may seem like a strange post. When we went out to eat tonight, I inquired about the food. Because Katie has a severe Peanut Allergy, I ask about ingredients, how they cook stuff, etc. I told them what she wanted to order and asked if there was any Peanut Oil or cross contamination issues that we should worry about. There was a question about the rolls. She said that the rolls come in a big box and they don't keep the box-they just throw it out.

Now, my feelings. In this day and age, when food allergies are in the news, why don't they hang on to the labels at least for customers that have questions about the ingredients?

Our family's motto is "If you can't read it, we don't eat it". In case you are wondering, we opted to not even bring the rolls to the table.