Advocacy

After more than a decade of tireless advocacy on the part of many advocates in New York, lead by Stacey Saiontz, the 200,000 food allergic children in New York State can now have confidence that their schools will now be required to have information on hand, that their teachers can access to help keep them safe in an anaphylactic emergency. The required information includes when and how to administer epinephrine to keep their students safe. Saiontz, along with her son, Jared worked with many New York State legislators and committee chairs to get this legislation passed. Special thanks go t...

By Becky Strabel Sept. 8th, 2023 After the School District of Siren posted on Facebook that the district would be a nut-free zone, comments for and against filled their feed. The post came just days before the district would welcome back students and after some teachers had already bought classroom snacks. Public comments at the Siren Board of Education meeting on Monday, Aug. 28, were similar to those online. Sarah Brewster questioned the board’s decision to ban the entire district of products with peanuts and tree nuts, including products made in a factory containing those ite...

By Katie Camero August 31, 2023 The number of young people with food allergies has been surging in the past few decades. This fall, many of them are heading to college. Living with a food allergy at home is challenging under the best of circumstances. But college students say navigating food allergies on campus is particularly fraught. Nearly a dozen current and recent college students with food allergies shared stories of encountering allergens in campus dining halls, during dorm-life shenanigans and at off-campus events. Alyssa Bauder, 25, a doctoral candidate in Chicago with a...

By Jon TerrySeptember 12th, 2023 "Yes, I'm happy to help!" While perhaps not as good as hearing I’ve won the latest lottery jackpot or having opera superstar Renee Fleming agree to have coffee with me, when John J. Condemi MD agreed to become medical advisor to Allergy Advocacy Association really made my day! In 2010 Toni Taylor and I had just begun building the Allergy Advocacy Association from the ground up. We had a lot of ideas, some promising and many others vague and ill-defined. One thing we were sure of: we needed to talk to an allergist, one who was a clinician, researcher, scien...

Getting in touch with your legislator is an important way to make your voice heard and advocate for the issues that matter to you. Whether you have concerns about a particular bill, want to express your support for a cause, or simply want your legislator to be aware of your opinion, contacting them can have a significant impact. Here are some steps to help you effectively communicate with your legislator: Identify Your LegislatorFirst, you need to determine who your legislator is. There are different levels of legislators, such as federal, state, and local representatives, depending on t...