NFCA’s New Communications Assistant
Up until about a year ago, I had never heard of celiac disease. I had heard of gluten, but never gave much thought to what it was. I don’t have celiac disease and up until I started working at NFCA, I didn’t know anyone who had it either.
I heard about celiac disease for the first time while working in clinical trial advertising. Since I knew nothing about the disease, I did some background research and found that people with the autoimmune disease couldn’t eat gluten. Well that’s no big deal, I thought. And then I kept reading.
I couldn’t believe gluten is in pretty much everythingand the number of serious health risks it can cause for people with celiac disease and other gluten-related disorders. The thought that people can get sick if a crouton falls on their salad was shocking. It didn’t take long until I felt a certain attachment to that project and the people we were trying to reach out to because of the life-altering effects of celiac disease.
For a while, I’ve known that I wanted to work at a nonprofit organization. I always thought that nonprofits are where people are most passionate about their work and that’s exactly where I wanted to be. I’m still learning a lot about celiac disease, but I’m excited to take on the challenge. I never cease to be amazed by the powers of social media and there’s an amazing sense of togetherness in the online celiac and gluten-free community. Between the website resources, knowledgeable bloggers, Tweet-ers, and Facebook-ers, there’s a wealth of information about gluten-related disorders to be shared.
I am truly looking forward to diving into this online group and sharing celiac and gluten-free resources from NFCA as well as learning more from this amazing community!
– Alicia
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