Archive Page 2
Next Meeting - Monday, 11/12/07
- 7:00-8:00PM: Watch the dvd “When Food Kills”
- 8:00-9:00PM: Share favorite snacks, restaurants and recipes and time for open question and answer.
Food Allergies make cover of Newsweek - More than a year ago, a reporter from Newsweek magazine began working on a story on food allergies. While it took a very long time, the story has finally been published and is the cover story for this week’s edition (Nov. 5th, 2007 – “Kids and the Growing Food Allergy Threat”). Many of you graciously volunteered your time to educate the reporters and help them research their story. Thank you. Even if you were not included in the final product, please know that your help is invaluable as we all work together to get the food allergy story communicated throughout the country. The article, and especially the prominence of having a cover story, gives the issue of food allergies terrific exposure as Congress nears the end of its appropriations schedule and determines funding priorities for next year. It may also be helpful to share with school staff and others to demonstrate the severi ty of the issue and the need for cooperation among all caregivers. The article is on newsstands now, or you can access it online at: www.newsweek.com/id/62296
Join us on Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, from 7-9 pm, for our first MOCHA meeting of the season. We will have Dr. Scott Morcott who will discuss integrative medicine and allergies. He is also the father of a son who has severe food allergies and
asthma.
Food Allergy Study: We need your participation in this study! The purpose of
this study is to determine if there are genetic components to allergies and what those components are by looking at family compositions. The information will help us move toward a cure! Don’t want to have your child go through 2 blood draws? Get an order for your child’s RAST and have the RAST done at the same time of your participation in the study. Two convenient locations are now available, Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and now Children’s Glenbrook facility in Glenview. Check out www.FoodAllergyProject.org for more info and the direct link.
FAAN Walk: Saturday, September 15, 2007 in Chicago. We hope to see you there! FAAN Conference: The Chicago 4/21/07 FAAN Conference was great. We have included the topics that were discussed. If you would like a copy of the conference notes we can make you a copy and mail it to you; or you can pick one up at the September meeting. These will be available for $3.
INFO FOR MAILINGS: Please continue to send allergy articles and information to MOCHA. If possible send to us via the Internet, with the appropriate link or article. This way we can share it with many other food allergy support groups around the country. We gather information from you and use it for our mailings. Paper articles from magazines, newspapers and other sources are also helpful. We can not possibly be aware of all the articles in the media and rely on you to help make our mailings or emails full of information that will benefit us all. Mail or fax your paper information to Anne who will be collecting the information and reviewing articles to be included in future mailings. We probably will be doing our paper mailings only 2 times a year; to reduce the cost, time and variety of info now available online.
On June 5, NIH released the Report of the NIH Expert Panel on Food Allergy Research, calling for additional NIH-funded research to uncover the causes of food allergy, and to conduct clinical trials and develop treatments for the life-threatening disease. The Panel, convened in March 2006 at the request of Congress, brought together experts in the fields of allergy and immunology to examine the research currently being conducted and to provide recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on advancing research in the field.
Download the press release (PDF) from FoodAllergyProject.org
Next week May 13-19 is Food Allergy Awareness Week. I hope that you are able to do something for your child and /or school to promote the awareness of food allergies. Go to www.foodallergy.org for some idea.
Our next MOCHA meeting is Monday May 14. Our meeting will be the 2nd Annual MOCHA at MOCHA coffeehouse. This is a chance to socialize!! We’ll have some light refreshments to enjoy too. MOCHA coffeehouse address is 742 N. Sheridan in Highwood, IL 60040. 847-549-4010.
Our next MOCHA mailing will go out sometime in MAY. It will be packed with notes from our last speaker’s presentation (Dr. Rhian Morcott, Child and Adult Psychiatrist), handouts from the FAAN conference, information from the Washington Kid’s Congress that Anne Thompson and I attended with our children and other articles as well.
Our next meeting is April 16, from 7:00 - 9:00pm at Highland Park Hospital, Meeting Room 2. The speaker will be psychiatrist, Dr. Rhian Morcott. Dr. Morcott has four children; one with food allergies and asthma. You may recognize her from the Food Allergy Project video (www.FoodAllergyProject.org).
Our next Meeting will be Monday Jan. 8th 7-9 PM at Highland Park Hospital. Our speaker will be Dave Bunning, who will speak about the research on food allergies around the country and how the Food Allergy Project is continuing to encourage the government to increase the Federal resources for food allergy research. You’ll also have an opportunity to view the FAP’s DVD and ask questions.
We encourage dads (and moms too) to join us. We will also be passing out a special surprise in honor of MOCHA’s 10 year Anniversary. (one per family).
We hope you have had Happy Holidays and wish you all a very healthy New year.
Best Wishes and we hope to see you on 1/8/2007.
Denise Bunning and Anne Thompson
We will have author Kim Koeller at our Monday Nov. 13th Meeting at 7PM at Highland Park Hospital. You will also have the opportunity to buy her book if you don’t have it yet as well.
Please check out below website, her book has won the 2006 award.
www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,9217.shtml
We will see you then!
Denise and Anne
Diane from POCHA sends this reminder:
Check your 504 plan accommodations! Make sure you have in writing that your child’s classroom will be allergen-free 100% of the time!
MOCHA’s Cheat & Eat dinner group will be meeting on Monday, October 23 at 7pm. We are going to try something new this month. We will be going to Panera Bread for dinner, snacks, or just to hang out with the group.
This is a great way to meet other members and speak to them one on one.
The Panera we will be at is across the street from Old Orchard shopping center. It is on the north east corner of Golf and Skokie roads, at 9611 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, 60077. It is next to the Walter E. Smithe furniture store. The phone number is 847-679-9156.
