What NFCA’s 10 Anniversary Celebration Supports
NFCA’s 10th Anniversary Celebration: Where Your Dollars Will Go
As we celebrate a decade of Restoring Health and Reclaiming Lives, we also must look ahead to the future and our community’s changing needs. NFCA’s 10th Anniversary Celebration will raise critical funds to support the areas where our help is most urgent.
GREAT SCHOOLS, COLLEGES & CAMPS
Keeping our gluten-free families safe is an urgent priority. It is essential that schools, colleges and camps are properly trained to know how to safely prepare and serve gluten-free foods without harm to those adhering to a medically necessary gluten-free diet. NFCA surveyed nearly 1,000 gluten-free college students and learned that 60% report getting sick from gluten exposure in their dining halls. GREAT Schools will help thousands of college students stop eating in fear of being sick … fear they live with three times a day, every single day.
To ensure that our kids have safe dining options, NFCA has developed GREAT Schools, Colleges and Camps that trains school cafeteria workers and dining hall staff. A recent Americans with Disabilities Act settlement sets a precedent that protects students with celiac disease and food allergies and mandates colleges to engage in regular training for dining hall staff. Public schools also are obligated under this Act. Colleges are more eager than ever to sign on.
However, feedback from NFCA’s 12-month beta test revealed that colleges require additional information to fully address the needs of their gluten-free students. They also require a Spanish-language version to effectively train their entire workforce. Dollars raised from the 10th Anniversary Celebration will underwrite the creation of a new GREAT Schools module, including a Spanish language version of the comprehensive 80-page training manual and exam.
PRIMARY CARE CME:
DEFINING, DIAGNOSING, AND MANAGING CELIAC DISEASE
An astonishing 83% of patients with gluten-related disorders remain undiagnosed and don’t know why they are suffering — needlessly. One educated physician has the opportunity to restore the health and reclaim the lives of 53 patients per year.
With an over-arching goal of improving the rate of diagnosis, NFCA is determined to close the gap in physicians’ awareness of the signs and symptoms of celiac disease through this free online accredited and evidence-based continuing medical education activity aimed to improve the identification and management of this common disease with a growing population. Research has shown that when primary care physicians use evidence-based criteria to actively look for celiac disease in adults, a 32 to 43-fold increase in diagnosis can be achieved.
An aggressive and robust marketing effort of this program will harness the attention of these providers on the frontline of diagnosis. Educating the primary care physician community of 352,908 (2010) also offers the opportunity to reduce the unnecessary cost burden: Females: $4,019 per patient over four years, Males: $14,191 per patient over four years.
NFCA RESEARCH INITIATIVE FUND
In honor of our 10th anniversary, NFCA is launching a research initiative fund.
Driven by a passion to improve the quality of life of those with celiac disease, NFCA is an active contributor to the expanding world of celiac disease research. Steered by NFCA’s distinguished Scientific/Medical Advisory Council, NFCA is committed to helping physicians, scientists and researchers discover new findings that can improve celiac disease diagnosis and treatment through research conducted by NFCA and in collaboration with leading experts in the field, hospitals and universities, and prominent celiac centers.
Over our 10 year history, NFCA has been the recipient of a number of grants, including a first-ever FDA grant to study gluten in medications. Through the years, NFCA has conducted surveys and established an evolving dialogue with our community about their first-hand experiences with celiac disease, giving us data that provides the opportunity to advance research in this field. The time is now to take our research initiative to the next level.
Costs related to research projects are based on an individual case basis determined by the scope, duration and nature of each initiative. Donor designated gifts to our research initiative fund will help support these project costs. Naming opportunities for individual funds are available at various gift levels.
For more information about these programs and projected financial needs, please contact Kimberly Moyer at [email protected] or 215-325-1306 x110.
