A Roaring Good Time! FPIES Families meet at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo.

Families living with FPIES were offered a rare treat in Boston, the chance to meet each other face to face and ask Allergy experts questions about the latest research and treatments available!

 

Boston Children's Hospital Hosted the event on Saturday, September 28, 2013.   It was free to any family with a child suffering from food allergies.   More than 300 families registered for the event and rare allergies such as FPIES and EOE were highlighted alongside the more common IgE-mediated allergies.

The FPIES Foundation table was a busy and popular meeting spot! The Foundation is thrilled at the response and enthused at how many families stopped by to say hello and introduce their little ones. It is also rewarding that many people from the food allergy community who never heard of FPIES before stopped by our informational table to learn more.  Amanda Lefew, Co-Director of The FPIES Foundation, was on hand to distribute informational packets with Label Reading Tutorial, Baking and Substitutions list, and flyer's...all available for reference and print out on the Resources page of the website.

We also loved learning from some of these other organizations like "No Biggie Bunch" and "Allergy Home" and encourage you to also check them out!

 

Medical Professionals from Boston Children's Hospital Food Allergy program spoke throughout the day.   Dr.John Lee and Tara McCarthy MS,RD,LDN of The Foundation's Medical Advisory Board hosted talks and answered questions. 
 

The best part of the day was the pure joy on the children's faces.  One mother told us her 3yr.old didn't believe other children had FPIES and that is why she wanted to bring him out.  Many families ended their day together on the zoo's playground, enjoying chatting and watching their children play and run around.  A moment where kids were just kids, and families realized they are not alone.
 

This article is written by Victoria Warren.  Victoria is a television news reporter for the NBC affiliate in Boston, WHDH-TV.  Victoria is a parent volunteer with The FPIES Foundation Volunteer Advisory Board.  Follow Victoria on twitter @VWarrenon7.