POCHA of Will County is not a professional or medical organization. It is a group of parents sharing information and supporting each other. The discussions, meeting minutes, handouts, speakers, agendas, and other products of this group do not constitute medical and/or legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Always discuss individual health/medical concerns with a qualified personal physician.
 

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Visitors since 9/1/06:

Welcome to POCHA of Will County
 

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)

** IMPORTANT NOTICE**
Wednesday, 03/27/08:
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB5338 - Illinois School Food Allergy Policy for all IL Schools

Update 06/09/08:
HB5338 is currently “hibernating” until November. It has been “Placed on the Calendar Order of Concurrence Senate Amendment(s).” The political situation in Springfield between Speaker Madigan and the Governor created the stand-still of many bills including ours. The good news is that our bill passed the House with 106 votes to 0, and passed the Senate with 56 votes to 0. We have been thanked by the representatives and senators for our polite, professional, and educational manner in requesting their support. I will, of course, send you information if there is anything that all of us need to do before November. I would like to thank those of you who took the time to call, email, fax as it does make a difference. Stay optimistic…we will continue until it is a law!

Update 05/13/08:
GREAT NEWS for HB5338. It was called on the House floor and passed with little debate and 105 votes. Therefore, it passed to the Senate. Please stay tuned for further updates.

Update: 04/22/08:
HB 5338 has been moved to Third Reading (the final stage for a vote by the entire chamber). The Speaker cancelled session early last week without considering HB 5338. However, due to a great number of bills remaining for consideration and a vote, the deadline for passing substantive House bills from the House has been extended by the Speaker to May 9th. There is no reason to be alarmed by this development. The House will be in session for two additional weeks before the deadline, and the bill is already on Third Reading, so only one vote is needed. Rep. Lindner has clearly articulated to the Speaker that she wants the bill called for a vote, so we anticipate no problem with it being considered the week of April 28th.

The next stop for the bill once it has passed from the House is to have it introduced in the Senate. At this point we will need to start writing to our Senators, too, and encourage their support. The current deadline for the Senate to decide on the bill is 5/23/2008, but as we can see with the House that may change.

Please check back for updates later this week. Gear up support, and let's be ready when the bill reaches the IL Senate!

Update: 03/27/08:
Great news! HB5338 passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee on 03/05/08 in the House of Representatives. There is one more reading to pass before moving onto the Senate. We are waiting for an amendment this week and hoping for HB5338 to pass the final reading in the House by April 18th. Please check back for updates. We continue to work closely with Republican Leader of the House, Representative Tom Cross' office.  We are very pleased with the help and guidance Representative Cross and his staff have provided to help make HB5338, what we hope to be, a reality for all of our children affected by life threatening food allergies to be safe in school. Please check back for updates. Thank you for your support.

Please sign our petition TODAY and support HB5338
Please view the bill here

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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 worked in healthcare for over 14 years and have a degree in Healthcare Administration and am currently working on a Masters in Business Administration. I have been home with my children on and off for the past 5 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, along with my fellow co-founder, Dr. Jonette Belicena. We are affiliated and physician supported with 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 3 high schools, 6 middle schools, and 14 elementary schools. The Referendum passed in April 2006 and there will now be a 4th high school (opens Fall 2008) built along with 2 middle schools, and 6 elementary schools.

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.

Dr. Jonette Belicena of Orland Park and her husband, Brian Misiunas, are the parents of two children with food allergies. Dr. Belicena is not only a brilliant pediatrician, but she is also a wonderful resource for the food allergies. Dr. Belicena is in practice with G&L Alcala Pediatrics in Joliet on Springfield Avenue. Her husband, Brian, is a Corporate Accountant.

Together, we invite you to join POCHA of Will County and hope to help you with any needs that you may have. Please contact Eleanor Garrow-Majka through our contact us page for further information or any questions. Thank you.

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.