Donate Food Allergy Books to School Libraries

We've all had one of those "why didn't I think of that?" moments. I had another just now, reading the news.

The article was FAST group donates food-allergy related books to libraries from Nashoba Publishing, a group of small newspapers in suburban Boston.

The article, really a reprinted press release, said that:

The Groton-Dunstable Food Allergy Support Team (FAST) recently presented 50 books dealing with food allergy awareness to the school district's libraries.

FAST is a group dedicated to providing information and support to families coping with allergies, promoting allergy awareness in our school community, and working with the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District to ensure a safe environment for children with allergies.

One goal for FAST this year was to increase the awareness of food allergies and their severity at all grade levels of our school district by providing educational materials. FAST believes all children, as well as teachers and school personnel, can benefit from these books, not just those with allergies.

"We constantly see students without allergies supporting their friends who do have allergies," noted FAST Co-Chair Lisa Chau. "Through educational materials, these students can gain an understanding and appreciation of this serious health concern, and provide peer support to their friends with allergies."

FAST worked with the school district to select age-appropriate books for all levels, from preschool through high school. These books will be available to students when they return to school in September. FAST was able to provide these books through generous grant funding from the Groton- Dunstable Education Foundation, Inc.

What a great idea. Any of the dozens of support groups around the country could copy this. It's easy, inexpensive, and effective.

Thanks for making my day, Groton-Dunstable FAST.