Help Send Children to a Gluten-Free Summer Camp

Here is a special holiday fundraiser to benefit the Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF) gluten-free summer camp in Southern California. Simply donate $2, and your donation will be matched this week only! All donations go directly to the CDF for camp scholarships. The camp is for any child age 7 to 15, who follows a gluten-free diet. It will be held in San Bernardino, California from July 30 to August 3, 2012.

“This week only, giving just $2 of your hard-earned money will go toward providing scholarships for children to attend a gluten-free summer camp hosted by the Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF) next summer in Southern California.

But this week, donating $2 doesn’t mean you’re just donating $2…

This week through Sunday, December 25, Gluten-Free Saver has partnered with Van’s Natural Foods to raise money to send children to next summer’s CDF-sponsored summer camp, and Van’s is matching all donations up to $1,000!

The goal is to raise $2,000 – and when you donate $2, you’re really contributing $4.”

You can read more about the fundraiser and make a $2 donation now on the Gluten-Free Saver website. Visit the Celiac Disease Foundation website to register for the camp or to make a future donation. Gluten-Free Saver is a great new gluten-free deal site, offering "limited-time promotions on your favorite gluten-free products at 37-80% off retail price." Happy Holidays!

Study Shows Benefits of Attending a Celiac Camp

A WebMD article reports the findings of a study about gluten-free camps done by the University of California, San Francisco. The study found that kids with celiac disease developed a more positive outlook about their dietary restrictions after attending a week long camp.


"The researchers tracked 104 youngsters at a gluten-free camp, 70% of whom had been on a gluten-free diet for less than four years. The children, aged 7 to 17, were given a 14-question survey at the start and end of the camp that gathered information on how they felt about themselves.

'All seemed to benefit from camp, no longer feeling different from other kids or feeling frustrated with a restricted diet,' the researchers write. 'Improvement was observed in each of the three categories of questions: well-being, self-perception and emotional outlook.'

But the camp experience had a greater effect on those who had been on a gluten-free diet for less than four years. Children who had been on a gluten-free diet for more than four years already had high positive ratings at the beginning of camp, so their ratings at the end of the camp session changed less."

The study was published in Pediatrics and concludes "durability of these observations on return to daily life requires additional study." If you would like to register your child for a gluten-free camp, view this list of summer camps from Nancy Lapid About.com Celiac Disease and reserve your space now!

Terrific Things - Nancy Lapid's Celiac Disease Blog on About.com

Nancy Lapid's Celiac Disease blog on About.com is a fantastic site for finding a variety of resources on numerous topics related to Celiac Disease. The site is organized into four tabs - Celiac Disease home, symptoms/diagnosis, diet, and daily life.

The information contained in each tab is very comprehensive and useful. For example, in the daily life section, there is information about a variety of social life topics including parties, wedding cakes, and gift ideas. The section for kids and parents is wonderful. Check out her articles on Summer Camps and Invite the Gluten-Free Traveling Bears to Visit Your Child. The diet section has the following helpful topics:
Celiac Disease Treatment: The Gluten-Free Diet
Starting in the Kitchen
Food Shopping
Everyday Recipes
Holiday Recipes
Munchies, Snacks, and Staples

I found her recent article Is Your Hospital Ready for Gluten-Free Patients? very informative. She also has her own forum and you can sign up to receive her weekly newsletter. Thanks Nancy for this terrific site!

Amazing Awareness - Celiac videos on "You Tube"

On "You Tube", you can search for celiac or gluten free and find hundreds of results, including many cooking demos, educational videos, and news reports. It is so nice to see all these videos together on one site.

I especially enjoyed this Liberty bakery commercial . You can order online from their website to try their products that are made in a dedicated gluten, casein, corn, soy, and nut free bakery in Florida.

I also was impressed with the celiac disease PSA with Heidi Collins. I found the video on the kids celiac camp interesting. This video is fuzzy on "You Tube", so the above link takes you to ABC to watch the clear video from August 2008. For more information on the camp, go to the celiac camp website.

Here are some other informative Celiac videos on "You Tube":

1. Heidi Collins on CNN first and second interviews
2. Cooking Spree Ad (with Heidi’s son in it)
3. Comcast Newsmakers Celiac Awareness Night - an interview with Alice Blast, founder of NFCA
4. The View - Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Dr. Peter Green
5. Dr. Aline Charabaty on gene testing. She has many videos explaining Celiac Disease.
6. Mystery Diagnosis Part 1 and Part 2- This aired on the first season of this popular Discovery Health channel show. There have been six seasons and this appears to be the only episode on Celiac Disease.
7. Mayo Clinic
8. Alternative Appetites - Vanessa’s Pizza from around the world - part 1. The entire episode and another one is on the NFCA's website .
9. Miami Pizza Fusion
10. Nearly Normal Kitchen - Jules Shepard makes graham crackers on Fox news - 2007. For more information, visit the Nearly Normal Kitchen website.
11. Enjoy Life on Food Network's Unwrapped

Please post in the comments below if you discover a gluten free cooking video you enjoy watching. Happy viewing!