FACST
Food Allergy: Connect, Share, Thrive
"Keeping Kids Safe & Parents Sane"
To the Food Allergy Community of Kansas City and Allies,
After months of trying to find solutions and serious deliberations, we are sad to announce the official dissolution of Centerview Food Allergy Management.
We are proud to have increased the level of food allergy awareness in Kansas City and beyond. In our short existence, we trained hundreds of teachers and leaders in schools, churches and other organizations throughout the metro including:
• Shawnee Mission School District
• Blue Valley School District
• Olathe School District
• Blue Springs School District
• Lee’s Summit School District
• Lawrence School District
• Nurses of all of the schools of the Archdiocese of KC
• Jackson County Nutrition Department
• Dozens of church Sunday schools, vacation Bible schools, preschools, day care centers and other organizations from Topeka to Jefferson City, from Lacynge to St. Joseph, as well as dozens of individuals through the Mid Continent Library education series.
We’ve had great success bringing safe events and raising awareness:
• Food Free Halloween Festival
• Camp Centerview
• Centerview Cupcake Challenge food competition for kids
• 504 Workshops for parents
• Shiner Circus Allergy Friendly Suite
• Speakers presentations including experts from Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
• Centerview Night at the Mavericks
• Food Allergy Awareness Week
• Helping with FAAW KS & MO Proclamations
• Centerview Family Newsletter
• Hosting food drives for Food Equality Initiative’s food allergy friendly food pantry
We are happy to have had the chance to work with great organizations such as:
• Allergy and Asthma Care
• Kansas City Allergy and Asthma
• End Allergies Together (EAT) Challenge
• KC FARE Walk
• Wildwood Outdoor Education Center
• Kansas City Royals
• Worlds of Fun
• KC CHADD
• Blue Valley Special Resource Fair
• KC Zoo
• Ararat Shrine Circus
• Autism Speaks
• We Rock the Spectrum
• Turn it Teal
• Children’s Mercy of KC
• St. Louis Children’s Hospital
• The Center for Allergy and Immunology
By far, the most rewarding part of our efforts was meeting families to help them accomplish their goals or just to lend an ear. Our monthly support groups gathered for years in various locations throughout KC. We met one on one in homes, schools, coffee shops, on line, by phone with parents looking for answers, support, and resources. We are most proud of the emails and messages from families thanking us for helping them communicate with their school, create a food allergy safety plan, find a solution to family conflict, in other words, creating a way for their child to safely participate in everyday activities that most people take for granted. That was the entire purpose for Centerview to exist!
All of our success could not have happened without the help of many, many people who donated their time, talent, money or other resources. Our gratitude goes out to these individuals for their generosity; Paulette Blunt and family, Becky Boxberger and family, all the food allergy families who shared their stories and time at our support group meetings. We would like to thank our many supporters and their businesses;
• Dr. Celina Bernabe of Allergy Asthma Care of KC
• Dr. Derek Ward of KCAA
• Eleanor Garrow from FAACT
• Lynda Mitchell from Kids With Food Allergies
• Tammy Rhodes from Allergy Navigator
• Mandi Kearns from Food Allergy Support Group of Greater Kansas City
• Colleen Conner from Food Allergy Connection
• Jennifer Giles from KC Northland Food Allergy Support Group
• Jodie Shroba from Children’s Mercy’s Allergy Clinic
• Kristy Lowe from Kristy Lowe Images
• Chris Valdez from Crescendo Conservator
• Wildwood Outdoor Education Center
• Angela Resch from Momma Resch Bakery
• Jennifer Ward from Be Free Bakers
• Patty Douglass from NoNutsMomGroup of KC
• Larkburger
• Terri Jordan from WizeWebz
Please consider supporting these businesses as they are our food allergy allies in our community!
I would like to take a moment to thank the BIGGEST supporters of all- our families! Our families patiently put up with us being gone, being busy, being passionate about helping the food allergy community. Marcie and I have worked on this project of bringing safety and inclusion to food allergic kids for five years. For five years we have given up hours and hours of our time, donated hundreds of dollars to pay for materials out of our own pockets, shown up to meetings, traveled to meet families, given presentations, answered questions, organized events, manned informational tables, taught teachers and nurses, traveled to learn from national experts, been turned away by school district administrators and members of the medical community, worked 24 hour shifts, sweated it out at camp, driven through the snowstorms to make it to evening meetings, in addition to managing our regular lives taking care of our own families and careers, to improve the lives of kids with food allergies in Kansas City- all without pay, compensation or recognition. We didn’t do this for accolades. We did it for our kids, ALL of our kids. We saw a need and tried to fill it. We saw that our kids were not being kept safe by schools, our kids were left out, we were struggling with finding products, recipes and support of others. So we decided to do something about it. Centerview Food Allergy Management was born. Sometimes we failed and fell on our face, sometimes we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. We sacrificed to make a difference but now it’s time to move on to a new chapter in our lives.
Thank you for letting us be a part of your food allergy journey. It’s been a privilege to advocate for your children’s safety and inclusion. As you know it takes a lot of work to make a change in this world. Those mentioned above were great team members. We ask that ALL of you take the time to get involved with whatever you are passionate about. Whether it be soccer, church, scouts, politics, a hobby, the arts or another cause- GET INVOLVED so that they can be successful. YOU are needed for organizations to continue their work!!
As for the future, there is still work to be done, training to be shared, research to be conducted and legislation to be passed. We will be finding other outlets to continue supporting the food allergy fight. Centerview resources will be donated back to other food allergy organizations. We will maintain a limited website to help people find resource. We recommend families use the following organizations (name is hyperlinked) we have highlighted what we consider to be their greatest strengths:
Local Support and Resources-
• centerviewfoodallergymanagenent.com & facstkc.weebly.com( to be updated soon)
• FB support- NNMG of KC- No Nuts Moms Group of Kansas City
• Children’s Hospital St. Louis’ FAME program- comprehensive training guide for schools
North America FA Support and Resources-
• FAACT- Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team (civil rights and education resource)
• KFA- Kids with Food Allergies (recipe and support message boards)
• AAFA- Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America- (focus on asthma& allergy, paired with KFA)
• AAN- Allergy and Asthma Network- (legislation advocacy & advocacy training)
• FARE- Food Allergy Research and Education- (clinical research and education resources)
• Food Allergy Canada- EXCELLENT training resources (note: different top allergens than US)
• Food Allergy Pharmacist- FB page listing food allergy finds in medicines/health/beauty products
• Allergic Living Magazine- Comprehensive coverage of food allergy from all angles
Finding Safe Food-
• FEI- Food Equality Initiative- Local pantry focused on special needs diets- sign up to volunteer
• Allergy Eats- Restaurant guide from food allergy family recommendations- sign up to critique
• Snack Safely- list of allergy friendly foods regularly updated-sign up for updates
• Allergence- Service of Snacksafely – allergy friendly product finder-sign up to find brands
• FoodSafety- Govt resource to sign up for recall info from USDA and FDA
Other Government Agencies/Info-
• CDC- Center for Disease Control food allergy section
• DoE- Section 504 information
• FDA- labeling resource
• OCR- Office of Civil Rights
Find an Allergist/Professional/the Latest Research
• AAAAI- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
• ACAAI- American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
• NASN- National Association of School Nurses
After months of trying to find solutions and serious deliberations, we are sad to announce the official dissolution of Centerview Food Allergy Management.
We are proud to have increased the level of food allergy awareness in Kansas City and beyond. In our short existence, we trained hundreds of teachers and leaders in schools, churches and other organizations throughout the metro including:
• Shawnee Mission School District
• Blue Valley School District
• Olathe School District
• Blue Springs School District
• Lee’s Summit School District
• Lawrence School District
• Nurses of all of the schools of the Archdiocese of KC
• Jackson County Nutrition Department
• Dozens of church Sunday schools, vacation Bible schools, preschools, day care centers and other organizations from Topeka to Jefferson City, from Lacynge to St. Joseph, as well as dozens of individuals through the Mid Continent Library education series.
We’ve had great success bringing safe events and raising awareness:
• Food Free Halloween Festival
• Camp Centerview
• Centerview Cupcake Challenge food competition for kids
• 504 Workshops for parents
• Shiner Circus Allergy Friendly Suite
• Speakers presentations including experts from Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
• Centerview Night at the Mavericks
• Food Allergy Awareness Week
• Helping with FAAW KS & MO Proclamations
• Centerview Family Newsletter
• Hosting food drives for Food Equality Initiative’s food allergy friendly food pantry
We are happy to have had the chance to work with great organizations such as:
• Allergy and Asthma Care
• Kansas City Allergy and Asthma
• End Allergies Together (EAT) Challenge
• KC FARE Walk
• Wildwood Outdoor Education Center
• Kansas City Royals
• Worlds of Fun
• KC CHADD
• Blue Valley Special Resource Fair
• KC Zoo
• Ararat Shrine Circus
• Autism Speaks
• We Rock the Spectrum
• Turn it Teal
• Children’s Mercy of KC
• St. Louis Children’s Hospital
• The Center for Allergy and Immunology
By far, the most rewarding part of our efforts was meeting families to help them accomplish their goals or just to lend an ear. Our monthly support groups gathered for years in various locations throughout KC. We met one on one in homes, schools, coffee shops, on line, by phone with parents looking for answers, support, and resources. We are most proud of the emails and messages from families thanking us for helping them communicate with their school, create a food allergy safety plan, find a solution to family conflict, in other words, creating a way for their child to safely participate in everyday activities that most people take for granted. That was the entire purpose for Centerview to exist!
All of our success could not have happened without the help of many, many people who donated their time, talent, money or other resources. Our gratitude goes out to these individuals for their generosity; Paulette Blunt and family, Becky Boxberger and family, all the food allergy families who shared their stories and time at our support group meetings. We would like to thank our many supporters and their businesses;
• Dr. Celina Bernabe of Allergy Asthma Care of KC
• Dr. Derek Ward of KCAA
• Eleanor Garrow from FAACT
• Lynda Mitchell from Kids With Food Allergies
• Tammy Rhodes from Allergy Navigator
• Mandi Kearns from Food Allergy Support Group of Greater Kansas City
• Colleen Conner from Food Allergy Connection
• Jennifer Giles from KC Northland Food Allergy Support Group
• Jodie Shroba from Children’s Mercy’s Allergy Clinic
• Kristy Lowe from Kristy Lowe Images
• Chris Valdez from Crescendo Conservator
• Wildwood Outdoor Education Center
• Angela Resch from Momma Resch Bakery
• Jennifer Ward from Be Free Bakers
• Patty Douglass from NoNutsMomGroup of KC
• Larkburger
• Terri Jordan from WizeWebz
Please consider supporting these businesses as they are our food allergy allies in our community!
I would like to take a moment to thank the BIGGEST supporters of all- our families! Our families patiently put up with us being gone, being busy, being passionate about helping the food allergy community. Marcie and I have worked on this project of bringing safety and inclusion to food allergic kids for five years. For five years we have given up hours and hours of our time, donated hundreds of dollars to pay for materials out of our own pockets, shown up to meetings, traveled to meet families, given presentations, answered questions, organized events, manned informational tables, taught teachers and nurses, traveled to learn from national experts, been turned away by school district administrators and members of the medical community, worked 24 hour shifts, sweated it out at camp, driven through the snowstorms to make it to evening meetings, in addition to managing our regular lives taking care of our own families and careers, to improve the lives of kids with food allergies in Kansas City- all without pay, compensation or recognition. We didn’t do this for accolades. We did it for our kids, ALL of our kids. We saw a need and tried to fill it. We saw that our kids were not being kept safe by schools, our kids were left out, we were struggling with finding products, recipes and support of others. So we decided to do something about it. Centerview Food Allergy Management was born. Sometimes we failed and fell on our face, sometimes we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. We sacrificed to make a difference but now it’s time to move on to a new chapter in our lives.
Thank you for letting us be a part of your food allergy journey. It’s been a privilege to advocate for your children’s safety and inclusion. As you know it takes a lot of work to make a change in this world. Those mentioned above were great team members. We ask that ALL of you take the time to get involved with whatever you are passionate about. Whether it be soccer, church, scouts, politics, a hobby, the arts or another cause- GET INVOLVED so that they can be successful. YOU are needed for organizations to continue their work!!
As for the future, there is still work to be done, training to be shared, research to be conducted and legislation to be passed. We will be finding other outlets to continue supporting the food allergy fight. Centerview resources will be donated back to other food allergy organizations. We will maintain a limited website to help people find resource. We recommend families use the following organizations (name is hyperlinked) we have highlighted what we consider to be their greatest strengths:
Local Support and Resources-
• centerviewfoodallergymanagenent.com & facstkc.weebly.com( to be updated soon)
• FB support- NNMG of KC- No Nuts Moms Group of Kansas City
• Children’s Hospital St. Louis’ FAME program- comprehensive training guide for schools
North America FA Support and Resources-
• FAACT- Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team (civil rights and education resource)
• KFA- Kids with Food Allergies (recipe and support message boards)
• AAFA- Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America- (focus on asthma& allergy, paired with KFA)
• AAN- Allergy and Asthma Network- (legislation advocacy & advocacy training)
• FARE- Food Allergy Research and Education- (clinical research and education resources)
• Food Allergy Canada- EXCELLENT training resources (note: different top allergens than US)
• Food Allergy Pharmacist- FB page listing food allergy finds in medicines/health/beauty products
• Allergic Living Magazine- Comprehensive coverage of food allergy from all angles
Finding Safe Food-
• FEI- Food Equality Initiative- Local pantry focused on special needs diets- sign up to volunteer
• Allergy Eats- Restaurant guide from food allergy family recommendations- sign up to critique
• Snack Safely- list of allergy friendly foods regularly updated-sign up for updates
• Allergence- Service of Snacksafely – allergy friendly product finder-sign up to find brands
• FoodSafety- Govt resource to sign up for recall info from USDA and FDA
Other Government Agencies/Info-
• CDC- Center for Disease Control food allergy section
• DoE- Section 504 information
• FDA- labeling resource
• OCR- Office of Civil Rights
Find an Allergist/Professional/the Latest Research
• AAAAI- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
• ACAAI- American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
• NASN- National Association of School Nurses
Getting Ready for School
A lot of people are starting to think about school starting. Where do I start? How do I keep my child safe? How do I make a plan? How do I get a 504? What IS a 504? Who do I talk to? Those are great questions and we have info on that- see our tabs.
But first, we say "Stop, take a deep breath....the first step is to ask 'How Do I Become an Effective Advocate?'" Often times we find ourselves in an intimidating situation, sitting around a table of "experts" and it can be overwhelming. We encourage you to think of yourself as the CEO of My Child Inc and be the boss! Here is a wonderful webinar, "7 Steps to Becoming A Confident Advocate for Your Child at School." This is a bit lengthy but it is SO worth it!
But first, we say "Stop, take a deep breath....the first step is to ask 'How Do I Become an Effective Advocate?'" Often times we find ourselves in an intimidating situation, sitting around a table of "experts" and it can be overwhelming. We encourage you to think of yourself as the CEO of My Child Inc and be the boss! Here is a wonderful webinar, "7 Steps to Becoming A Confident Advocate for Your Child at School." This is a bit lengthy but it is SO worth it!
7 Steps to Becoming a Confident Advocate for your Child at School
Back to School Supplies for Food Allergies
Kathryn Coleman spoke at this month's meeting and shared some great information about communicating with your child's classroom teacher. She shared the power point presentation that she gives to her son's teachers as well as a binder that his teacher keeps in the classroom filled with all sorts of great information.
You can make your own binder to give to your kid's teacher by including following:
(1) photo of child clearly labeled with name and allergies
(2) signed allergy action plan from doctor (choose one)--
(4) page from FARE on how a child might describe a reaction
- FARE site
(5) Training on administering your ephinephrine auto injector (6) FARE paper on how to read a label
-FARE site
(7) Teacher's check list
-St. Louis Children's Hospital Guidelines
-FARE checklist
(8) State wide guidelines
- find your state on this link
You can make your own binder to give to your kid's teacher by including following:
(1) photo of child clearly labeled with name and allergies
(2) signed allergy action plan from doctor (choose one)--
- AAAAI Emergency Action Plan
- FARE Food Allergy Research & Education- Emergency Care Plan
(4) page from FARE on how a child might describe a reaction
- FARE site
(5) Training on administering your ephinephrine auto injector (6) FARE paper on how to read a label
-FARE site
(7) Teacher's check list
-St. Louis Children's Hospital Guidelines
-FARE checklist
(8) State wide guidelines
- find your state on this link
Centerview Offers Free Training for Living With Food Allergies!!
Would you like your child's school, church, synagogue or other organization to get free training? Have the director contact us to set up a session!
We present food allergy training for schools, dojos, scouts and PTAs etc. If you are interested in setting up a visit for your school click on "Connect" above.
We present food allergy training for schools, dojos, scouts and PTAs etc. If you are interested in setting up a visit for your school click on "Connect" above.