Happy Anniversary National Foundation for Celiac Awareness

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness is celebrating their 10th anniversary today. Over the past 10 years, NFCA president Alice Bast and her amazing staff have done a tremendous job bringing celiac awareness, education, and fun to the gluten-free and celiac communities. I have participated in many of their events over the past 10 years and I look forward to many more years and events to come. Thank you NFCA for your tireless efforts within the Celiac community and congratulations on this milestone anniversary!

Exciting News for Gluten-Free Fun!!

The NY Mets will honor the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) and R.O.C.K. Long Island with a Spirit Award in an on-field presentation before the start of the game on Friday night. I am beyond thrilled to announce that I will be a recipient of one of these Spirit Awards before the game! Join me at the game on Friday night and look for me on the jumbotron before the game!!! 

Um, have I mentioned I am excited?!?!

Celiac Disease Awareness Night

Friday, May 27 @ 7:10 p.m.

One in 100 Americans have Celiac Disease but 95% don't know they have the disease. Celiac Awareness Night at Citi Field will benefit R.O.C.K. Long Island, who offer free support to parents, families and friends of kids on the gluten-free diet for any reason, and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) offering educational programs for the general public, healthcare professionals and the gluten-free industry.

• Show your support while enjoying a Mets game at Citi Field.
• Sit together with fellow members, friends and family in our Left Field Landing & Promenade Reserved seating.
• All participants will receive a Mets Ticket Holder and Lanyard (with advance purchase through this offer).
• A portion of each ticket purchased through your promo code (CELIAC) will directly benefit R.O.C.K. Long Island and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA)!

To buy your tickets visit: www.mets.com/celiac

NFCA Appetite for Awareness 2010

On Sunday, October 24, the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness hosted their Appetite for Awareness event. In a new location for 2010, the event was held in the Philadelphia Navy Yard right on the Delaware River. As soon as you pulled up to this event, you knew that you were about to enter something special. Attendees were greeted with fun signs encouraging you to "go ahead and eat it" and to "Have your cake and eat it too." There were hundreds of people patiently waiting to enter to event to get their gluten-free groove on. What a way to start the day!

When you walked into the building, you were immediately greeted by the cheery NFCA volunteers and staff and given an empty reusable bag courtesy of Wegman's. From there, your gluten-free dream day could now begin. Attendees had the choice of turning left and sampling restaurant's gluten-free meals and heading towards the Children's Pavilion or heading right and trying more restaurants, going to the gluten-free Biergarten, or trying samples from more gluten-free vendors than you could ever imagine. All of this in a building the size of an airplane hanger is really quite overwhelming, even to the most experienced Celiac.

The restaurant area was a good place to start since it was directly in front of you when you walked in. There were more than ten restaurants from around the Philadelphia area preparing gluten-free dishes to sample. Every table was manned by the Chef of that restaurant and usually accompanied by a medical professional. These dishes were not your average gluten-free samples, these were mini gourmet plates. Veal, duck truffles, tacos, lasagna, and lobster rolls were just a small portion of what was available to try. Restaurants included Bar Ferdinand, Buddakan, Butcher and Singer, Chifa, City Tavern, El Ray, Grandma's Grotto, Jack Kramer's Catering, Le Bec-Fin, Le Castagne, The Palm, Main Line Pizza, L'OCA, Pasta Pomodoro, Rouge, Terra, and Zahav. Right next to the restaurant area was a bar area serving soft drinks, Redbridge beer, wine and Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka. Gluten-free hors d'oeuvres and cocktails! What could be better?

After trying all of the restaurant samples, it was time to move on to the gluten-free vendors. Over 40 vendors were at at the Appetite for Awareness event. To have this many choices for so many "normal" foods was just amazing. There were desserts, crackers, juice, grilled cheese sandwiches, to-go packages, hoagies, frozen food, condiments, and even gluten-free soft pretzels. All you could do was walk from table to table in gluten-free bliss. The vendors were offering samples of many of their products and many were also selling their gluten-free goods at a discounted price. It was great to not only try the new gluten-free food, but to chat one-on-one with the gluten-free vendors. Many of the vendors started their companies because either the owner has Celiac Disease or one of their family members required a gluten-free diet. The love and dedication behind the gluten-free vendors was very inspiring. Vendors such as Glow Gluten Free Cookies and Tonya's Gluten-Free Kitchen both started with gluten-free family members and now are amazing products for gluten-free people to enjoy.

The day was not over after sampling from the restaurants and the vendors. In the Drexel Education Center, attendees could watch live chef demonstrations by Monica Glass, Chef Georges Perrier, and cookbook author Silvana Nardone. Or you could head in the other direction and visit the Children's Pavillion for face painting, a bouncy castle, or gluten-free peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery, and additional vendors or information booths.

The Appetite for Awareness by NFCA day was really more than anyone who is gluten-free and has Celiac Disease could ask for in an event. Being in a room of all of these wonderful gluten-free friends, family, vendors, restaurants, and medical professionals was really quite an amazing experience. All of the support and food made you feel quite normal for the day and hopeful for the gluten-free future. No one questioned your food choices, no one judged your additional allergies, everyone was smiling and praising the event. It really was a wonderful experience and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness did a wonderful job executing a perfect Appetite for Awareness. Here's to 2011.

More pictures and blog postings to come!


About the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) from their website
The NFCA drives diagnosis of celiac disease, imporves quality-of-life for children and families adhering to a gluten-free diet and advances science by facilitating collaborations within the healthcare community.

NFCA is a leading resource for celiac information. NFCA's website offers free, comprehensive information and support materials for celiac patients, their families and health care providers (including a comprehensive Symptoms Checklist and a Getting Started Guide), accredited training for healthcare and food industry professionals and the latest news, recipes, videos and blogs to promote quality of life without compromise.