Food Allergy Fun Run: Driving donations and awareness with fundraising

For Food Allergy Awareness Month, the Children with Food Allergies Alberta – Education and Support Group hosted a Food Allergy Fun Run at Sailsbury Athletic Park in Sherwood Park, Alberta to raise awareness about food allergy while fundraising for Food Allergy Canada.

On May 26th, 36 kids between the ages of 3-10 years and their families gathered for the Fun Run event, which involved a few laps around the track including a fun inflatable obstacle portion. Many of the children involved had food allergy but there were a lot of friends and family members without food allergy who also participated.

“Our Fun Run was a success and it was a lot of fun,” said Catherine and Karen, leaders of the support group and organizers of the Fun Run. “After our initial count we were at $1,249 in donations for Food Allergy Canada!”

Catherine also noted that the event received a lot of support from the outside community including from local businesses such as Inflatable Bouncy Houses by Bouncin’ Around, Save-on-Foods and Red Robin restaurant.

“Everyone seemed to really enjoy the event and the goodie bags that they received. It was great to see members of the community come together for an important cause. As families left, we heard many children and parents say that they hope this becomes an annual event,” Catherine explained.

Children with Food Allergies Alberta also has a large online following of mainly local families, and hosts support group meetings primarily geared towards parents. When we asked Catherine what prompted her to host the event she shared, “This was an event where the children could get involved in their community to raise awareness about food allergies while having fun at the same time. We wanted to support Food Allergy Canada because in turn we are supported by them through programs, education and research.”

A special shout-out goes to The McBean Family, Madelyn Randall, and the Hansen Family for being the top fundraisers of the Food Allergy Fun Run.

Thanks for supporting our organization and raising food allergy awareness!