Food Allergy Research & Education Hosts First FARECon Featuring Teen Summit

FARE Vision Awards To Be Presented At Largest Educational Event for Food Allergy Community

McLEAN, Va. (Oct. 16, 2018) – FARECon featuring Teen Summit, presented by OWYN – Only What You Need, will bring 700 teens, parents and adults managing food allergies to the Washington, D.C. area on Nov. 2-4 for a weekend of knowledge, friendship and inspiration. Hosted by Food Allergy Research & Education, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization working on behalf of the 15 million Americans with food allergies, FARECon featuring Teen Summit also provides the setting for the presentation of FARE’s annual Vision Awards.

A unique event that combines FARE’s annual food allergy conference with its popular Teen Summit, FARECon will feature more than 50 sessions throughout the weekend covering topics ranging from food allergy research to anaphylaxis 101 to strategies for transitioning food allergy management through various stages in life.

“Research shows teens are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors when it comes to their food allergies. Unfortunately, this risk-taking behavior means teens are at the highest risk for fatal, food-induced anaphylactic reactions,” said FARE CEO Lisa Gable. “At FARECon, we hope that teens and other attendees will feel empowered after learning from renowned experts in the field and bonding with peers who understand the challenges of living with food allergies.”

This year’s event will kick off once again with Innovation Tank, which offers teens the opportunity present an innovative idea to help improve the lives of people with food allergies. Last year’s winning ideas were an epinephrine auto-injector holder that attaches to the back of a cell phone and an epinephrine auto-injector carrying case designed to keep epinephrine at proper temperature, a product which has now been launched in the marketplace.

Wrapping up the weekend-long event will be the presentation of the 2018 Vision Awards, given to individuals and entities that have gone above and beyond on behalf of the food allergy community. FARE wishes to thank all of the dedicated individuals and volunteers who were nominated for this year’s awards.

This year’s winners are:

• Outstanding Business Award for Food Allergy Activism – Spokin
  Spokin, an innovative mobile app and website created by food allergy mom and longtime advocate Susie Hultquist, provides the food allergy community with a platform to discover, evaluate and share resources, customized to each user’s allergens and locations.
• Outstanding Community Education Award – Brett Fox
  Fox has been a tireless advocate for the food allergy community for the past decade, leading the Northern Virginia Food Allergy Group, participating in FARE’s Outcomes Research Advisory Board and as a founding member of the Fairfax County Food Allergy Task Force.
• Outstanding Advocacy Impact Award – Jon Terry
  Terry established the Allergy Advocacy Association after his sister passed away from anaphylaxis, and has led work in New York state on stock epinephrine in schools, teacher training on epinephrine use and daycare guidelines, among others.
• Teen Achievement Award – Daytona Hodson and Adel Schneider (tie)
  Daytona, age 16, a longtime member of FARE’s Teen Advisory Group, has dedicated countless hours to mentoring and other teens with food allergies, educated his school staff about food allergies, helped plan FARE’s Teen Summits and has made media appearances to promote FARE’s walks and the Teal Pumpkin Project.
• Adel, age 10, has been an integral part of FARE’s walk in Milwaukee, raising more than $20,000 to benefit FARE’s mission and discussing food allergy awareness on multiple TV appearances; she also represented FARE at a stock epinephrine bill signing and recently won a state competition that will bring more awareness to food allergy.
• Health Professional Award for Volunteer Service – Daisy Tran, RN
  Tran goes above and beyond her duties as a nurse in the Food Allergy Program at Texas Children's Hospital, fundraising for FARE’s walk, attending health fairs and visiting schools to educate adults and children about food allergies, and leading efforts for a peanut-sensitive baseball game that many patients enjoyed.

Congratulations to all of the FARE Vision Award winners!

FARE thanks Presenting Sponsor OWYN – Only What You Need – for its generous support of this year’s event.

To learn more about FARECon Featuring Teen Summit, please visit www.foodallergy.org/farecon.