Welcome to POCHA of Will County
Introduction
Hello, my name is Eleanor Garrow-Majka, and I live in Will County
with my two children. My son was diagnosed with life-threatening
food allergies at 19 months of age; he also suffers from asthma and
environmental allergies, diagnosed two years later, along with
eosinophilic esophagitis. I have a Bachelor's degree in Healthcare
Administration and have worked in healthcare for over 15 years. I
have been home with my children on and off for the past 6 years.
Being
a parent of a child with life-threatening food allergies and with
the Plainfield area “booming” and no support group near by, I
decided to be the Founder of POCHA of Will County. POCHA of Will
County is physician supported by Children’s Memorial Hospital,
Department of Allergy & Immunology in Chicago. Dr. Jennifer Kim at
Children’s Memorial in the Department of Allergy is our Medical
Advisor. Plainfield alone now has 4 high schools, 8 middle schools,
and 20 elementary schools.
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June 2007 - POCHA of Will County
Mom, Michele Abbott, was the 1st place winner for the
Cherrybrook Kitchen Cake Contest. Michele won a 1-year
supply of Cherrybrook Kitchen's products. We are very
proud of Michele and her family for her prize-winning
1st place! Congratulations! |
As a former employee of Children’s Memorial Hospital and now a
Children’s Memorial Allergy parent of a patient, I cannot express in
words what a wonderful facility Children’s Memorial is. You have to
experience the environment yourself to realize what a magnificent
place it is and the services provided to help you and your family.
Watching POCHA grow these past three years and educating other
families on food allergies, whether it be a new diagnosis, questions
about school, or how to start their own support group, has been a
huge part of my life. I've become so involved in the food allergy
community and have made wonderful friends along the way. Knowing
that I have even helped one person or family means so much to me. I
have enjoyed getting to know the families in the POCHA group and
feel we all not only have a bond because of what we share with our
children, but we have truly formed genuine friendships. My heart
will always be with POCHA of Will County, but now it is time for me
to pass on the torch as I have accepted a new position out of state.
I have accepted the role of Vice President of Education &
Outreach at the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (www.foodallergy.org)
(FAAN) in Fairfax, VA. I will provide leadership, development, and
implementation of FAAN's education and outreach strategy and
programs. Some of the programs are as follows:
* All food allergy curriculum, education, and training programs.
* All children, teen, parent, and grandparent education and outreach
programs.
* Annual patient care conferences.
* Coordinates with all FAAN-affiliated support groups around the
country.
* Provides input and content support for all educational products,
websites, and social media outlets.
* Provides support to members through the member communications
department via telephone, e-mail, and mail.
* Post recall alerts on web site, via e-mail, and Twitter.
* And much more...
Please stay tuned for more information on Camp T.A.G.'s future
and survey results. I will have more information posted soon. Feel
free to contact me with any questions at
egarrow-majka@foodallergy.org
I will miss everyone dearly, but know you will always be a part
of my life, and we will always be in touch as our friendships and
bonds cannot be broken. I am leaving POCHA of Will County in very
good hands and with those who will follow the mission to provide
support and information to members, to increase community awareness
of food allergies, and advocate for change when necessary.
As of September 2009, I am very proud to introduce POCHA's new
Co-Leaders...two Mom & Dad teams who will go above and beyond to
help our children. Please welcome Chris & Michele Abbott and Ray &
Dawn Peckler as POCHA of Will County's new Co-Leaders.
Chris
& Michele Abbott live in Bourbonnais, Illinois with their two sons.
Their oldest son has life-threatening food allergies to milk & eggs,
and also has environmental allergies. They have been members of
POCHA of Will County since 2006 when POCHA first started. They
attend the FAAN Annual Patient Conference in Chicago each year and
participate in the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy in Chicago every year
as committee members and volunteers on Walk Day. In 2008, they were
named Parent Ambassadors for the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy in
Chicago. Michele was also the 1st place winner in 2007 for the
Cherrybrook Kitchen Cake Contest (please see picture above). Chris
works at Exelon, and Michele is at home her children when not
working part-time at Exelon.
Ray & Dawn Peckler live in Lockport, Illinois with their three
daughters, all of whom suffer from asthma and environmental
allergies, and their youngest child with life-threatening food
allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, soy, and mango. They learned
of her food allergies when she was 13 months old. Ray & Dawn also
have environmental allergies and asthma. They have been members of
POCHA since 2007 and are grateful to have the support of POCHA of
Will County along with other food allergy organizations, which
continue to educate them on keeping their food-allergic daughter
safe. They also participate in FAAN's Walk for Food Allergy in
Chicago each year as committee members and volunteers on Walk Day
along with attending FAAN's Annual Patient Conference each year.
The Abbott's and Peckler's are definitely team players and
support one another 100%. I'm so pleased and proud to be leaving
POCHA in their hands, as I know they will be very successful in
co-leading POCHA. They are committed to educating others, raising
awareness, and acting as advocates for our food-allergic children.
We invite you to join POCHA of Will County and hope to help you
with any needs that you may have. You may reach the Abbott's and
Peckler's through the Contact Us page for further information or any
questions. We look forward to meeting you and helping you! Thank you
to everyone for three wonderful years and helping me along the way.
All my best,
Eleanor Garrow-Majka
INTRODUCING....
CAMP T.A.G.
A Safe Place for Food-Allergic Children and Their Siblings
My name is Eleanor Garrow-Majka, President and Founder of "Camp
T.A.G. - A Safe Place for Food-Allergic Children and Their
Siblings!" Camp T.A.G. was named after my two children, Thomas
Andrew and Anne Garrow. They share the "A" as they share their lives
and this bonding experience of living with food allergies. Thomas
has life-threatening food allergies, eosinophilic esophagitis (EE),
and asthma; Anne does not.
Forming a nonprofit organization and providing a safe place for our
food-allergic children and siblings to attend camp has been a dream
of mine, which is now coming true! Camp T.A.G. will be 95% FUN and
5% educational with a curriculum designed by medical, ley, and
restaurant professionals who specialize in food allergies.
Please take a minute to fill out this survey on Survey Monkey for
Camp T.A.G.
PLEASE READ MORE ABOUT CAMP T.A.G...
Safeguarding Kids Who Have
Food Allergies
Mary Anne Garrow of Sheridan, Ill., and grandson Thomas
Majka, 5, of Plainfield take in First Lady Patricia
Blagojevich's announcement Monday in Chicago of a new
food-allergy awareness effort, Ask Before You Eat. Thomas
has food allergies. (Tribune
photo by Nancy Stone / May 12, 2008)
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May 2009 Parenting Magazine - "Could It Be Asthma?"
Eleanor Garrow-Majka and Thomas Majka were interviewed for this
article.
Please click here to view the article, then click on
5 Common Asthma Triggers and How to Beat Them to see our
section. Thomas' comments are only in the actual magazine copy, not
on the internet copy.
** IMPORTANT NOTICE**
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007, 2008, and 2009
HB281 & SB152 - Statewide Guidelines for Food-Allergic Children
in all IL Schools
** Update Thursday, August 13, 2009: **
Illinois Governor Quinn signed the Illinois Food Allergy
Bill HB 281 into law in Chicago, Illinois. This was a huge day for
food-allergic families in Illinois. We worked hard on this
initiative for almost two years, and it has now paid off. We are
thrilled beyond means that HB 281 is now a law in Illinois! Thank
you to everyone who helped make this happen. We could not have
passed HB 281 without your help and support. THANK YOU!!!
Please click here to view more information on HB281
Update Wednesday, May 20, 2009:
Dear Food Allergy Families:
After two long years of hard work, we are happy to announce that the
Illinois Food Allergy Bill HB 281 has passed both legislative
chambers !!! Hurray!
Here’s what we need you to do now :
1) The only step left to finalize the Bill into law is obtaining the
Governor’s signature. We are hoping that the Governor will agree to
a special signing event so that many of us will be able to attend,
and we will let you know the details once they are confirmed. In the
meantime, we request that you reach out to the Governor's office via
phone, fax or email to urge him to support this bill.
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield , IL 62706
Phone: 217-782-0244
Fax: 217-524-4049
governor@illinois.gov
The following message can be used:
Dear Governor Quinn:
We respectfully ask your support for HB 281. This bill was passed
virtually unanimously by both the House and Senate. The bill directs
the Illinois Department of Public Health and the State Board of
Education to develop guidelines for managing students with
life-threatening food allergies. These guidelines will then be used
by school districts to develop their own plan. This bill is needed
now to make sure that schools know how to deal with children with
life-threatening food allergies. Ten years ago, food allergic
patients made up only five percent of Chicago Children’s Memorial
Hospital . Today, food allergy patients make up more than 40% of the
same allergy practice. And as more children are afflicted with
life-threatening food allergies, schools increasingly struggle to
figure out how to deal with it.
Several states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee,
Vermont, and Washington, have already passed legislation or
implemented guidelines similar to this bill, providing guidance and
expertise to local schools for dealing with the challenges of
educating food allergic children safely in a school environment.
Thank you for your support of this important legislation.
Sincerely,
Name, address, phone
2) Next, it is very important to take the time to call and email
our thanks to these two Champions who sponsored the bill:
Rep. Patti Bellock’s offices at (630) 852-8633 and (217)
782-1448 to thank her for sponsoring HB281. Her email is
rep@pbellock.com.
Sen. Susan Garrett’s office at (847) 433-2002 and (217)
782-3650 to thank her for sponsoring HB281. Her email is
susan@garrett98.com.
3) Please email and/or call your thanks to the House Sponsors
of HB281 (sample language below):
Rep Tom Cross: 815-254-0000; 217-782-1331; tom@tomcross.com
Rep Michael Madigan: 773-581-8000; 217-782-5350; mmadigan@hds.ilga.gov
Rep Robert Pritchard: 815-748-3494; 217-782-0425; 70thdist@pritchardstaterep.com
Rep Deborah Mell: 773-267-2880; 217-782-8117; deb@debmell.org
Rep JoAnn Osmond: 847-838-6200; 217-782-8151; osmondjoann@aol.com
Rep Jim Durkin: 708-352-7700; 217-782-0494; repdurkin@hotmail.com
Rep Michael Tryon: 815-459-6453; 217-782-0432; mike@miketryon.com
Rep Monique Davis: 773-445-9700; 217-782-0010; davismd@ilga.gov
Rep Linda Chapa LaVia: 630-264-6855; 217-558-1002; chapa-laviali@ilga.gov
Rep Ed Sullivan, Jr.: 847-566-5115; 217-782-3696; ilhouse51@sbcglobal.net
Rep Elizabeth Coulson: 847-724-3233; 217-782-4194; coulson@earthlink.net
Rep Sidney Mathias: 847-222-0061; 217-782-1664; smathias@ilga.gov
Rep Rosemary Mulligan: 847-297-6533; 217-782-8007; mulligan@legis.state.il.us
4) Please email and/or call your thanks to the Senate Sponsors
of HB281 (sample language below:)
Senator Pamela Althoff: 815-455-6330; 217-782-8000; palthoff@mc.net
Senator Kirk Dillard: 630-969-0990; 217-782-8148; senator@kdillard.com
Senator Dan Cronin: 630-792-0040; 217-782-8107; senatorcronin@aol.com
Senator Kimberly Lightford: 708-343-7444; 217-782-8505;
statesenatorlightford@comcast.net
Senator Heather Steans: 773-769-1717; 217-782-8492;
hsteans@senatedem.ilga.gov
5) (a) Please email and/or call your thanks to ALL the
Representatives (yes, all of them!) and ALL the Senators (yes, all
of them!). We suggest breaking up the emails into groups of no more
than ten each. Their contact information is listed on the
spreadsheets attached. The following message may be used to assist
you:
Dear Representative / Senator _____________:
We are so grateful for your support of HB 281 (Bellock/Garrett),
which will ensure that schools know how to appropriately manage
children with life-threatening food allergies. This bill was just
passed unanimously by the Senate and now will be forwarded to the
Governor for his signature.
Again, thank you for your continued support of this essential
legislation.
Sincerely,
Name, address, phone
(b) Alternatively, if you do not have time to do this, then
at the very least contact your Representatives and Senators and
thank them. To find out who your Representatives and Senators are,
go to www.votesmart.org; enter your zip code; look at the list of
State Legislators. You can click on the person’s name to see their
contact information, or look at the spreadsheets attached to this
email.
Update Friday, April 24, 2009:
As most of you know, two bills identical food allergy bills were
introduced this year, HB0281 by Patti Bellock and SB152 by Susan
Garrett. Both of these bills passed their respective chambers and
have now been presented in the other chamber.
On Tuesday, April 28 at 4 pm, the Senate Education Committee will
consider House Bill HB0281 (Garrett). Under this bill, the
Department of Public Health and the State Board of Education will
develop rules that local school boards must follow in the
development of guidelines for the management of students with life
threatening food allergies.
The Illinois House of Representatives approved HB 281 by a vote of
115-1, and the bill will now be considered by the Illinois Senate.
As you know from my earlier emails, the Senate already approved SB
152 unanimously, and that bill includes precisely the same language
at HB 281. For this reason, we are expecting a positive response
from the Senate Education Committee.
Even though we expect it to go well, lets not leave anything to
chance. Please contact (by phone, mail or email) to the members of
the Senate Education Committee and respectfully request their
support next Tuesday.
Please click here for their contact information, which is in an
excel spreadsheet.
Thank you,
Your Illinois Support Group Leaders
12th Annual Mariel C. Furlong Award Winners Announced - See
Upcoming Events
Congratulations to all of the 2008 Award Winners including
Eleanor Garrow-Majka for Community Service, Support Group
Leader, POCHA of Will County,
Joliet, Illinois
Let Oprah Hear Us!
Oprah is looking for new topics for her show and we have a great one
for her - Food Allergies! She is looking for input through the “Ask
Dr Oz about your children's health!” section on her web site.
We need your help to ensure that she understands the extent of the
food allergy issue. It is important that all the “Dr. Oz health
questions” are submitted within a few days of each other. Hopefully
the volume of questions on food allergies will demonstrate that
there is enough interest to warrant a show on food allergies.
Find more information here.
