FARE Walk to raise funds for food allergy research, education

The annual FARE Walk for Food Allergy will be at Veterans Park in Hoover Oct. 23 with check-in and other activities beginning at 1:30 p.m.

The walk, held in hundreds of cities across the country, raises money for research, advocacy and education and to help support those living with allergies. It also raises public awareness of the need to create a safer, more inclusive world for the 15 million Americans who have food allergies, organizers said. 

“The FARE Walk is very motivational and uplifting as we recognize all of our local families, children and adults that have food allergies,” said Jim Steiner, national walk director.

In addition to the walk, the event will feature music, kids’ activities and local and national sponsor tables and information, according to organizers.

There is no open food or eating at the walks, organizers say. However, the event features such national sponsors and partners as Enjoy Life, SunButter, Skeeter Nut Free, Nice N Clean and Don’t Go Nuts.

Organizers also ask that no attendees bring pets to the walk, due to allergies.

Some local support groups, such as the No Nuts Moms Group, helped to organize the event.

Amy Roux, founder of the Birmingham chapter of No Nuts Moms, said the event has been a positive experience for her 7-year-old son with food allergies, who enjoyed a non-food trick-or-treat session at a FARE Walk last year.

“The children at the walk could participate in a Halloween celebration where they were totally included,” Roux said. “As parents, we could let him participate without hovering and pulling out all of the unsafe candy we typically see when trick-or-treating, and for him it was not a constant reminder that his food allergies limit his participation in common social events.”

Participants in the FARE Walk raise money from sponsors prior to the event. To register, go to bit.ly/2cxEGkn.

Each registrant is given a web page and access to fundraising tools. Learn more about No Nut Moms of Birmingham by searching No Nuts Moms Group of Birmingham Alabama Community on Facebook. To learn more about allergies, go to foodallergy.org.