A Year of Gratitude

The programs of The FPIES Foundation are centered on the child living with Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome. Our programs and initiatives are maintained on a lean budget, minimizing spending while maximizing returns for families. We operate with generous donations of time and talents, all staff- volunteers, advisors and executive are unpaid volunteers.   We are a non-profit, an organization in the business of spreading FPIES awareness, education, and support to families and the medical community alike.

We would like to take a moment to recognize some of the monetary donations and fundraisers we have received this year:  

• A donation received from a family, in lieu of presents for their son’s birthday, in honor of their son Shawn, who is living with FPIES.

• A Custom Ink Booster sales t-shirt fundraiser organized by a mom of a child with FPIES, Crystal Lentz with her design: “FPIES, Rare but Real”.  The t-shirt was an inspired idea for a FARE walk, to raise awareness to FPIES.   Crystal organized two successful sales of these bright and quality t-shirts (watch for round 3 in the New Year!).

• A Norwex Fundraiser, with the profits from Erica Allen’s commission donated to The FPIES Foundation.  Erica raised funds while spreading awareness in her community and online, of what FPIES looks like and how it affects families today.

• “Chase-ing FPIES” Fundraiser, hosted by Victoria Warren with a percentage of the sales of Ava Anderson products donated to The FPIES Foundation.

• Bon-Ton booklets sold by Amanda LeFew and Jenn Booth in their communities to raise funds for The FPIES Foundation while helping others save money at Bon-Ton Retailers (watch for this again this spring!).

• Thank you to our anonymous donors who have graciously gifted The Foundation. 

• Fundraiser through Cafe Press of FPIES Wordle T-shirts, with designs from FPIES mom Vicki Garding.  Contributions from sales continue to provide donations in this ongoing fundraiser. 

• And, of course, all of you who contribute by taking part in our other ongoing Foundation fundraisers on Café Press, iGive, Flower Power,  GoodSearch,  Label Your Stuff, Planet Green, Text To Donate and various other online fundraisers you have helped by sharing your participation, we thank you.

The FPIES Foundation is an incorporated, 501(c)3 non-profit foundation dedicated to overcoming the challenges of FPIES by offering tools for education, support, and advocacy to empower families and the medical community.   To learn more about our donations, please visit our Donate page.  In addition, be sure to stay posted for bi-annual updates regarding The FPIES Foundation’s spending trends and how your support is directly impacting the face of FPIES awareness, education and research.

This post was written by the Executive Board of The FPIES Foundation 

FPIES: A Diagnosis, not a Definition

FPIES: A Diagnosis, not a Definition

Nichole L. Huff, Ph.D., CFLE

As Thanksgiving Day draws near, Facebook and other social media outlets are abuzz with people sharing blessings in their lives.  For things both big and small, people are talking about thankfulness.  For parents of children with FPIES, however, the anticipation of Thanksgiving may conjure up more fear than gratitude.  The #1 worry?  Protecting your child from an endless array of food prepared with unknown ingredients.  (And subsequent fears, such as being around people who may not understand why they can’t give your child “just one bite” of pumpkin pie or green bean casserole.) 

Whether it’s Thanksgiving Day—or any other day of the year—for parents of children with FPIES, it’s hard to stop worrying.  Which is why it’s all the more important that we, too, stop to regularly reflect on our blessings.

The Importance of Thankfulness

Research shows that being thankful is crucial for one’s mental health.  One study[1] examining how gratitude affects emotional well-being found that those who frequently “counted their blessings” were less likely to suffer from depression and were more likely to exercise, help others, and achieve personal goals.  The participants who regularly wrote down their blessings also exhibited more energy and were more optimistic than those who didn’t specifically reflect on being grateful.

This study is just one of many supporting the positive effects of thankfulness.  Because FPIES, however, defines so much of what we do each day, as an “FPIES parent” it can be difficult to remember that FPIES is a diagnosis, not a definition—for you or your child.  Depending on your child’s age, triggers, and stage of allergy management, it can be easy for you to count your blessings in “allergy speak” (e.g., successful food trials, severity of food fails, etc.).  But like other parents who manage a child’s around-the-clock condition, our constant focus on all-things-FPIES makes us more susceptible to conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Gratitude and FPIES

As an FPIES community, let’s use the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to remind us to count our blessings.  Our non-FPIES-related blessings.  So I ask you, what are you thankful for today?  Big or small.  I’ll start…

Today I’m thankful for a quiet house and the warm sunlight shining on my face as I write this blog entry.  I’m thankful for the teachers who are caring for my kids while I work.  I’m thankful for my family’s sweet back-and-forth text messages now commenting on a recording of my four-year-old practicing “Jingle Bell Rock” for his upcoming holiday performance.  And I’m thankful for the earworm that’s now stuck in my head!  Because it reminds me of the little boy singing it—a little boy whom I love with every ounce of my being.

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[1] Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377


Nichole Langley Huff is an assistant professor and Extension Specialist at North Carolina State University. Dr. Huff has a Ph.D. in Family Sciences and a M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy. She is a Certified Family Life Educator with the National Council on Family Relations. Her areas of research include child development, parent-child communication, and bio-psycho-social health. Dr. Huff also has a weekly parenting blog at http://soapboxmommy.com/