Monday, November 14, 2011

#NHBM Nov. 14th Eleveator Blog

30 second pitch:

Hello! My name is Andrea Garza and I created FoodAllergyTalk.com back in middle school after being diagnosed with allergies to wheat, gluten, milk, eggs, corn, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, garlic, and more! With all of the research my mom and I were doing, I decided to centralize that information on a website! I also created the FoodAllergyTalk [ASU] club to help people in person, and especially focus on college living with allergies.

1-2 minute pitch:
Hello! My name is Andrea Garza and I created FoodAllergyTalk.com back in middle school after being diagnosed with allergies to wheat, gluten, milk, eggs, corn, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, garlic, and more! With all of the research my mom and I were doing, I decided to centralize that information on a website! I also created the FoodAllergyTalk [ASU] club to help people in person, and especially focus on college living with allergies.

I am the logistics chair for the Walk for Food Allergy in Arizona--we had over 700 people attend in 2010 and raised more than $40,000! My vision is to provide up to date information about allergies, raise awareness in the community and at Universities across the country. University awareness has become a strong interest for me since I am currently attending ASU. My goal is to have clubs initiated at Universities across the world that all have the title "FoodAllergyTalk [Univ]" with their university letters in the brackets. All of these clubs would be supported by FoodAllergyTalk.com and provided information to help found the club, tips on forming club goals, how to raise awareness in that community, etc. There is nothing like this for the food allergy community, and I think it will be a vital safety net to have across the board. I know that it would make me feel better to have a group to talk to as an incoming freshman with food allergies! Eating in the dining halls, or deciding whether or not that can be a safe option, can be tricky and a hard decision. Talking to others who have been through it is extremely helpful and helps lessen the burden of transitioning into college life.

-Andrea Garza

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