The not so friendly skies.

My family recently traveled on American Airlines. Imagine my surprise while reading the airline's in flight magazine regarding their policy, or lack there of, concerning individuals with nut allergies.  The allergy statement was near the end of the magazine, in a tiny box, on a page titled, 'Tips For A Fit Flight'.  Was this a joke?  For an airline, whose own website says "Creating a great airline for you", to make such a bold statement and not even attempt to accommodate a rising population is short sighted.

FARE's recent announcement concerning legislation for safer air travel for those with food allergies could not have been more timely.  Read below.

Air Travel Policies and Airline Access to Epinephrine

Kendra Scott Gives Back to FARE

Come out and join fellow Houstonians for this fun event.  This is a great opportunity to mingle with friends while supporting a wonderful cause.  Christmas will be here before you know it!

TCH Food Allergy Program Symposium

**upcoming event**

Register early!  Space is limited.

https://waystogive.texaschildrens.org/food-allergy-symposium

SB 66....

is now OFFICIAL!

Thanks to all of you who helped make this happen.

Action required

This is from Dr. Davis at TCH.....

SB66 allowing for epinephrine auto-injectors in Texas public schools is now on Gov. Abbott's desk for signature.  Would you please email and call Gov. Abbott's office ASAP?  
 
The telephone number to call is 512-463-1782 and also email his office.  Both are preferred. 
 
To email his office go to gov.texas.gov
- click contact
- select - I am registering my opinion (No response required)
- click select
- fill in the contact boxes
- in the issue box - choose Education – Public
- in the comment box please put something asking him to sign SB66 (Sen. Hinojosa and Rep. Crownover) which allows for epinephrine auto-injectors in Texas public schools.
- click send
 
Thank you,
Carla M. Davis, MD

Looking Back!

May was a very busy month for HFAN! As we wrap up "Food Allergy Awareness Month", Houston Food Allergy Network also celebrates a 1 year anniversary! We want to thank everyone that has contributed, read, glanced, liked, and shared HFAN's Blog and Facebook page. For those of you who haven't had a chance to read about how HFAN came into existence, here is a link to our very first post "Welcome All".

How did you bring awareness to "Food Allergies" this month?
We were ecstatic when we found out that FARE had themed "Food Allergy Month" as "Action Hero Month". The theme was fun, and most importantly very empowering for our kiddos. As Nut Eggactly mom shared in her post "Thank You", our "Food Allergy Awareness" week was Action Hero Packed with goodies, crafts and kind deeds. We kicked off the week with bringing community awareness. Our kiddos and a few parents passed out some "Allergen Free & Nut Free" snacks during the morning drop off. "You can S.A.V.E the Day" posters from the FARE website were posted throughout the school campus. We brought awareness to the classroom by sharing the BugaBees with the pre-school students. For the elementary and middle school grades we invited a guest speaker from Texas Children's Hospital Department of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology who gave a presentation on food allergy facts and shared an excellent kid friendly video, Kids Living with Food Allergies. We even managed to squeeze in a school wide fundraising event and raised over $300 for FARE. 

Overall it was a great week! I hope that our efforts will continue to have an impact in our community and make our school safer for our kiddos and for those families who will come behind us.

As we wrap up "Food Allergy Awareness Month" I would like to close with a
Thank you to:
the dad that shared with my son how yummy the "allergy free" treats were...
the mom who suggested a "peanut allergy friendly" restaurant as a gathering place...
the teacher who suggested that we use the same cupcake wrapper as the rest of the students so our kids wouldn't feel left out...
the dad that admitted that he thought "dairy allergy" was the same as "lactose intolerant" and took the time to understand what it actually meant...
the mom who gave me the coolest insulated bag for mothers day, it has made it so much easier to transport food wherever we go...
the student who told his parents that he didn't want to pack food that could make his friend sick...

I take comfort in knowing that some impact is better than no impact at all.

We hope that you can join us at our next meeting! 

Dairy Allergy Mom

.

Thank You!

Skeeter Nut Free products can now be found at Central Market on Westheimer Road

Many thanks to Skeeter Nut Free and Enjoy Life for supplying samples for Food Allergy Awareness Week!  Your samples will be used to fill 60 food allergy awareness bags and remaining samples will passed out to parents during morning drop-off.  Dairy Allergy Mom and myself are grateful for your generosity.  Because of you, our efforts to raise awareness are made easier and sweeter!  Thank you.

Food allergy awareness bags: "I'm Fighting Food Allergies"

Products in the awareness bags