FARECon Sets Records, Raises Bar

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first FARECon featuring Teen Summit, presented by OYWN – Only What You Need. Held Nov. 2-4 near Washington, D.C., this groundbreaking event set records for attendance and was enthusiastically received. 

FARECon featuring Teen Summit combines FARE’s national conference for adults and parents managing food allergy with our flagship gathering of young people with food allergy, aged 11-22, and their parents. The capacity crowd of 700 was double the size of our largest previous national conference and welcomed 200 more participants than our largest Teen Summit.

Participants gave high marks to FARECon’s educational programming, celebrations of achievement, and social events that included a real-world test of dining out, in which 700 allergy-friendly lunches were successfully prepared, served and eaten. A key theme throughout the conference was providing a supportive forum for tweens, teens and young adults as they take on increasing responsibility to communicate their needs. In addition, 18 sessions provided professional education credits, helping registered dietitians meet their continuing education requirements while helping improve the quality of care for food allergy patients and families.

"I appreciate the emphasis on empowering our teens with their voice. In past years, I've not felt the emphasis on empowering and teaching our kids how to operate in the ‘real world’ but thought this conference was different. You were trying to teach kids how to use their voice and how to teach parents to trust and empower our kids. Great job! Bold move by FARE to provide lunch! I think it is wonderful! You modeled how our kids must learn to live in a world surrounded by food. We are diligent, teach, take precautions, and trust. Something may happen and you will need epi but we can be trained and train others on how and when to use epi."

“WOW! Is how we feel after attending FARECon featuring Teen Summit. We had not attended for more than 7 years because the events were divided and cost is an issue. This event was FANTASTIC! When and where is the next one?”

Now in its third year, Teen Summit’s Innovation Tank competition elevated the best ideas and inventions of nine remarkable young finalists. We were awed by their accomplishments and creativity. Kudos to Teresa Hooker, who won in the concept category for her proposal to write a catchy song explaining how (and for how long) to administer an epinephrine auto-injector, and to sibling team Zidaan and Malaina Kapoor, who took top prize in the prototype category by designing a simple, discreet way to carry an epinephrine auto-injector under everyday clothes, inside the waistband.

Also honored at FARECon featuring Teen Summit were the 2018 recipients of the FARE Vision Awards. Congratulations to Spokin app creator Susie Hultquist, community educator Brett Fox, anaphylaxis advocate Jon Terry, teen achievers Daytona Hodson and Adel Schneider, and ally and health care provider Daisy Tran, RN.

We thank all of our wonderful presenters for generously sharing their insights and expertise, without which FARECon would not have been possible. Thanks as well to our national strategic partner OWYN – Only What You Need. We thank Enjoy Life Foods, Nima, Safe Needle Disposal, Camp Wingate*Kirkland and all of our generous sponsors. Most of all, thank you to the 700 members of the food allergy community who found knowledge, friendship and inspiration at FARECon featuring Teen Summit 2018. We can’t wait to see you next year!