Who cares if a 14-year old North Carolina girl falls unconscious at a local mall and dies before emergency personnel can reach her? Or if the life of a nine-year-old in Washington State ends suddenly on a school trip; or if a young girl in Nevada spends three years in a coma and ultimately succumbs to death?

If you do, then join the Food Allergy Project, an organization of other parents, researchers and educators, joined together to fight for more federal resources dedicated to food allergy research, and spur the scientific studies necessary to save children's lives.

There is currently NO CURE to allergies, and the one and only drug available in life-threatening situations involving is a shot of epinephrine, a drug discovered more than a century ago. Since then, there has been little advancement in treating and reversing allergies.

If you think saving and easing the lives of children with allergies is a good cause, please help. The organization is not asking for money. All you have to do is urge your Senator or Representative to support increased federal funding for food allergy research. A sample letter can be found here.

If your family lives in the Chicago area, you might also want to take part in a study aimed to identify genetic and environmental factors contributing to development of food allergies. Click here for more information (pdf file, requires acrobat reader).