Rising Stars

At only 8 years old, Anthony is on the cutting edge of science. He is in a clinical trial for food allergy research and shares his story to help Kids With Food Allergies (KFA). Anthony has multiple food allergies. He’s allergic to barley, wheat, eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. By the time he reached age 4, he had been hospitalized three times because of allergic reactions. “Trying to imagine a ‘normal life’ for him through these challenges was difficult,” his mom, Kelli, said. “There were...

The community of Clifton Springs, New York, attends a popular Halloween festival every year called Spooktacular. Families come in costume for the games, hayrides, pumpkin decorating, haunted house and dance party. And, of course, the trick-or-treating. After hearing about TEALOWEEN on the KFA community, Stasi had an idea to see if she could make Spooktacular more food-allergy friendly.

When the sky cleared after a day or two of good heavy rain, Mason, age 4, asked his mom Kristal to go outside to play. And out they went. He noticed a puddle and started rolling his truck in the water. Eventually, he was rolling around in the mud. “He went from touching the water to completely covered in mud,” remembers Kristal. “We were out there for a few hours, and he was having the time of his life.” When it was time to clean up to go inside, “he thought being hosed off was completely...