Kids With Food Allergies (KFA), a division of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), is asking you to help our fellow families in West Virginia who have been burdened, displaced or evacuated due to severe storms and flooding.

Families who have children with food allergies encounter challenging circumstances during emergencies. Some of the unique requirements of this population after disasters include:

1.    Shelters without animals, with safe kitchens and asthma/allergy-friendly bedding
2.    Medications on-site including nebulizers for people with asthma and epinephrine for severe allergic reactions
3.    Food safe for individuals with food allergies and food intolerances
4.    Elemental formula for infants with special restrictive diets

The West Virginia Children's Allergy Alliance (WVCAA), a support group affiliated with AAFA and KFA, is holding a food drive for allergy-friendly foods.

Recent flooding has affected 44 of West Virginia's 55 counties. With food allergies and special dietary needs growing, there is a need for specialized collecting.

It's hard to put into words. Houses are completely gone. They talk about a thousand year flood? That totally describes it. There are areas where there's virtually nothing left. My greatest concern is that three to six months from now, people will still have no homes and the rest of the country will have forgotten we were flooded.
- Kimberly Earl

How You Can Help

Mail Donations

The following are being accepted:

• Visa or Mastercard gift cards
• Small boxes of shelf-stable, allergy-friendly food (peanut-free peanut butter alternatives are in high demand)
• Order from their Amazon Wish List and ship direct.

This food drive cannot accept pallets of food.

Ship to:

WVCAA c/o Kimberly Earl
130 Woodbridge Dr
Charleston, WV 25311

Two Local Food Drive Events

When: Saturday, July 2, 2016 from 12-4pm

Where: Drug Emporium/Healthy Life Market, 1603 Kanawha Blvd W, Charleston, WV 25387

AND

When: Saturday July 9, 2016

Where: 5101 MacCorkle Ave SE, Charleston, WV 25304

Who to contact: Robyn Clark or Kimberly Earl (WVCAA on Facebook or 304-553-9175)

How You Can Get Help If You Are Affected by the Flooding

WVCAA is serving as a collection point. Volunteers are creating care packages of safe foods based on lists of "avoids" given to them by flood victims. Collected items will be put onto trucks from Flood Relief - Union Mission who will distribute them to different locations in all the flood affected areas.