Lots of things happen in May, graduations, recitals, and even Food Allergy Awareness Week.  The week of May 11-17, 2008 will be devoted to “Living and Learning With Food Allergies” during the 11th Annual Food Allergy Awareness Week (FAAW), sponsored by FAAN (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network).

Lots of activities are planned for the week and there are many ways to get involved, from the big to the little things. FAAN has a calendar full of activities which you can choose from or you can come up with some of your own. It’s a good time to write the letters to your congress people that you’ve been thinking about (you can find sample letters at www.foodallergy.org) or make a presentation at your school, church, synagogue, even you work or wherever else you feel needs some education of food allergies. You can present to a class, to teachers, to the whole organization. Material and suggestions can be found on the site as well. If you are interested in making a presentation, go ahead and talk to whomever is in charge now to set it up.

If you are talking to a younger class, you may want to read them one of the great books on food allergies, and even present it to them afterwards. There are also coloring sheets you can download from the site that your child can take to school and share with his or her classmates. Check with the teacher first, but it may spur to her to do her own food allergy research and presentation. Maybe this week can also be an opportunity for your child to speak to his class himself and answer questions his class mates may have. Talk about empowerment!

FAAN also has fundraising suggestions and tips. You can organize a “Food Allergy Pal Day” where students and teachers or co-workers donate money to FAAN to and wear specified attire (hat day, pajama day, crazy sock day). You can get all the information you need for this on the FAAN site.

More suggestions and information is on the FAAN site. You can also register on site and have a packet sent to you with information. The more involved, whether it is fundraising or spreading awareness, the better off everyone is. Remember, knowledge is a powerful tool. Get your kids involved, too, there are great things for them to do with you as a family or taking on a leadership role in school.

The community is already involved in this – Trace Adkins is the celebrity spokesperson, and just some of the many sponsors include Chick-fil-a, Publix Supermarkets, Nestle, Unilever and the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, among others.