I'm fundraising to honor my son, Matt, who's lived with food allergies for 21 years. It hasn't always been easy, but we've managed.  I know too well the looks on people's faces who don't understand the seriousness of food allergies.  I remember the times when he wasn't invited to birthday parties because the parents of his classmates thought it was too much of an inconvenience to invite an innocent child to a party, just because he had food allergies. I understand the fear of dealing with anaphylaxis, and even the look of shock on doctors' faces when they witnessed full-fledged anaphylaxis due to a sip of a drink fortified with whey.

I also know families who struggle far worse than we did. Ones whose children have such severe food allergies that they can't eat any foods at all, or just a few foods, and need a stomach tube and special, extremely expensive medical formulas to survive.  Or children that live with such severe eczema that their skin oozes, and they live in constant misery.  Or families who stuggle to pay for the cost of these expensive formulas, or to get their children the medical care they need because it's not available in their own community, or because they don't have good health insurance coverage.

I also know that with education and family support, kids with food allergies have a better chance of living safe and healthy lives, and their families don't need to feel like they are dealing with this alone. We need to keep kids safe and healthy until a cure for food allergies is found. It's for this reason I'm fundraising, and asking you to donate to my fundraising page.

Thank you!