FARE Walk for Food Allergy Comes to Fairfield County Wilton Middle Schooler Earns Grant from CT Block Party in Support of Eve

The FARE Walk for Food Allergy, one of Food Allergy Research & Education’s flagship fundraising, awareness and community-building programs, will be in Westport with the goal of raising critically needed funds that will make a difference in the lives of 15 million Americans living with food allergies.

The Connecticut FARE Walk for Food Allergy will be held in Westport on Saturday, September 24th at Sherwood Island State Park Pavilion from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. This family fun day will include activities for all ages including a face painter, relay races, carnival games, a strolling magician and live music from Hartford-based reggae band Ras Spectiv. This year’s FARE Walk for Food Allergy will also incorporate an arts and crafts table where children can make Teal Jack-O-Lantern door signs to celebrate FARE’s Teal Pumpkin Project®, a national initiative that promotes safety, inclusion and respect of individuals managing food allergies by encouraging households to display a teal pumpkin and provide non-food treats for trick-or-treaters.

Bella Andjelkovic, a 7th grader at Middlebrook School, earned a grant from CT Block Party for $760.00 to organize an interactive area at the Walk. The CT Block Party is a non-profit organization which provides grants and mentoring to promote youth philanthropy within Connecticut. Bella wanted to get involved in the Walk because she and her younger brother, Luka, both have severe anaphylactic allergies to tree nuts and peanuts. The grant will pay for a strolling magician and carnival games for a special lawn section of the Walk. Bella has named the lawn games section “Be A PAL,” aligning with the FARE initiative where PAL stands for “Protect a Life.” Her goal is to bring kids together to interact in a positive and fun way while educating them on how to support their friends with food allergies.

Bella’s team for the Walk is called the Wilton Warriors, and includes families from Cidar Mill School, Middlebrook School and Wilton High School. The Wilton Warriors have already raised over $11,500.00 toward the Walk and are hoping for more support. The team will be at the Village Market on September 22nd for a Bake Sale from 3:00 to 5:00pm to raise funds and recruit more local Wilton residents to participate in the Walk.

“Kids with food allergies spend their whole life worrying about things they aren’t supposed to eat and it’s pretty scary and negative most of the time,” said Andjelkovic. “The FARE Walk is such a positive, happy day where we all feel safe and strong. I want my friends to be a part of the fun and learn how they can be understanding and helpful to someone with severe allergies.”

The inaugural Connecticut FARE Walk for Food Allergy took place in Westport in 2014, and in two years, has drawn over 850 walkers and raised more than $235,000 helping to advance food allergy research, education, advocacy and awareness initiatives. To register as a team or individual go to www.foodallergywalk.org/connec... .