Rise in Food Allergies Spurs “Unexpected” Growth of National Nonprofit
Doylestown, PA, March 20, 2007 --(PR.com)-- The rise in childhood food allergies has led to the rapid growth of one of the first online resources dedicated to helping families of food-allergic children.
Kids With Food Allergies (www.kidswithfoodallergies.org) celebrated its second anniversary this month by signing its 8,000th member, making the charity the largest online support group for parents and families raising food-allergic kids. Membership has doubled in the past year alone, spurred by the recent, unprecedented rise in food allergies.
An estimated 12 million people in the U.S. have food allergies, of which three-to-five million are children. Lacking local support groups, more and more parents and families are turning to the Internet for information and support.
Kids With Food Allergies’ roots trace back nearly seven years to a handful of dedicated parents, including founder Lynda Mitchell, sharing experiences online about the challenges of raising children with food allergies. Since then, the organization, founded as a nonprofit charity in 2005, has grown into the nation’s second largest member organization for families managing food allergies.
“Raising a child with food allergies is often an overwhelming and isolating task. There’s a lot of clinical information out there about allergies, but what’s missing is a personal connection to others for social and emotional support,” said Lynda Mitchell, president of Kids With Food Allergies whose son – now a teenager – developed multiple food allergies as an infant.
“Our goal is to utilize the power of the Internet to connect families nationwide who wanted to share stories, recipes and coping strategies and by doing so, foster the health and well-being of both families and their food-allergic children. By providing our support group on the Web, families can connect with others like them any day, any time, by simply going online,” Mitchell stated. “We did not expect to grow so quickly – it’s definitely exceeded our expectations and is a testament to how prevalent food allergies have become today.”
The online community has a range of offerings, including:
- Online discussion forums, or “support groups,” offering peer information sharing, social and emotional support, and food and cooking help
- Database of allergy-friendly recipes
- Frequently asked questions
- Food allergy news, articles and research updates, and
- Marketplace featuring allergen-free foods, cookbooks, apparel and more.
For more information, visit www.kidswithfoodallergies.org.
Media Contact: Lynda Mitchell, President
Kids with Food Allergies
Ph.: 215-230-5394
Fax: 215-340-7674
lmitchell@kidswithfoodallergies.org
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Kids With Food Allergies (www.kidswithfoodallergies.org) celebrated its second anniversary this month by signing its 8,000th member, making the charity the largest online support group for parents and families raising food-allergic kids. Membership has doubled in the past year alone, spurred by the recent, unprecedented rise in food allergies.
An estimated 12 million people in the U.S. have food allergies, of which three-to-five million are children. Lacking local support groups, more and more parents and families are turning to the Internet for information and support.
Kids With Food Allergies’ roots trace back nearly seven years to a handful of dedicated parents, including founder Lynda Mitchell, sharing experiences online about the challenges of raising children with food allergies. Since then, the organization, founded as a nonprofit charity in 2005, has grown into the nation’s second largest member organization for families managing food allergies.
“Raising a child with food allergies is often an overwhelming and isolating task. There’s a lot of clinical information out there about allergies, but what’s missing is a personal connection to others for social and emotional support,” said Lynda Mitchell, president of Kids With Food Allergies whose son – now a teenager – developed multiple food allergies as an infant.
“Our goal is to utilize the power of the Internet to connect families nationwide who wanted to share stories, recipes and coping strategies and by doing so, foster the health and well-being of both families and their food-allergic children. By providing our support group on the Web, families can connect with others like them any day, any time, by simply going online,” Mitchell stated. “We did not expect to grow so quickly – it’s definitely exceeded our expectations and is a testament to how prevalent food allergies have become today.”
The online community has a range of offerings, including:
- Online discussion forums, or “support groups,” offering peer information sharing, social and emotional support, and food and cooking help
- Database of allergy-friendly recipes
- Frequently asked questions
- Food allergy news, articles and research updates, and
- Marketplace featuring allergen-free foods, cookbooks, apparel and more.
For more information, visit www.kidswithfoodallergies.org.
Media Contact: Lynda Mitchell, President
Kids with Food Allergies
Ph.: 215-230-5394
Fax: 215-340-7674
lmitchell@kidswithfoodallergies.org
###
Contact
Kids With Food Allergies, Inc.
Lynda Mitchell
215-230-5394
www.kidswithfoodallergies.org
Lynda Mitchell
215-230-5394
www.kidswithfoodallergies.org
Contact
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