Wilson Student Takes Food Allergy Crusade to Capitol

Food allergies are scary. Wilson Elementary sixth-grader Lake Ille wants to make them less scary and better understood. He’s taking that message to Washington on September 30th when he’ll join eighty other students in giving a presentation to Congress.

Lake has a severe peanut allergy. His personal experiences and concern for himself and other American students led to Lake successfully applying for the opportunity to serve as a Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) Junior Ambassador.

Lake intends to tell Congress to “put more money to food allergy research and hopefully find a cure,” he said.

Lake also has another idea, the installation of kiosks in all schools in the country. The kiosk would provide the ingredients for all school menu items so that students can be informed. Right now he and his family are working with the Forest Hills School District to get ingredients of menu items served in the schools posted online.

Lake said that he is learning what it means to be an advocate for the needs of children with food allergies. “As I get older, I see the need to try to work for a change,” he said.

To learn much more about food allergies, visit the FAAN web site at http://www.foodallergy.org.