Here are opportunities for you to participate in Celiac Awareness Month to help increase awareness of both the illness and Celiac Sprue Association nationwide. Activities can occur at many different levels:
NATIONALLY
Along with offering an annual conference during this month, CSA also provides information regarding the disease in a variety of ways. Activities from past years have included:
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mailing brochures on CD to 9,000 physicians;
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sharing an information packet on CD with all 50 state departments of health;
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sharing a basic set of materials on CD with 600 libraries;
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sharing information about CSA with at least four hospital dietetic departments in each state; and,
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providing dietitian and physician packets in response to contributions.
The CSA office has made follow-up contacts with 600 manufacturers and producers of commercial foods during past Celiac Awareness Months. This sharing of information has been both educational for the doctors and beneficial to the organization because of the evaluation of products that has resulted.
LOCALLY
Local CSA chapters also do outstanding jobs of promotion. In the past they have:
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provided CSA-prepared press releases to local media (see Press Releases samples );
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placed full and half-page human-interest stories in area newspapers;
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given exceptional radio and television interviews;
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co-sponsored activities with their state dietetic association;
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set up physician/patient interviews on talk shows and specials in the press and on radio;
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donated materials to health agency files and to libraries;
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interviewed chefs at area restaurants, assisting with the planning of gluten-free entries and menus for each restaurant; and
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co-sponsored displays with area hospitals.
It is likely that in addition to awareness about CD and CSA, one of the greater contributions chapters have made is through their restaurant education programs. In this format, the chef, the cooks, the manager and the wait staff all learn about the diet and how their particular restaurant can be of assistance to those with CD.
INDIVIDUALLY
If you, or someone you know, is dealing with CD and would like to do something to help "get the word out," Celiac Awareness Month is the perfect opportunity. The list of things you could do is endless. Here are some things you might try:
Share something positive about the disease and the diet with a new person.
- Have a conversation with the manager of your local grocery store, explaining the importance of the availability of gluten-free options.
- Visit with a member of the clergy regarding the definition for a strict gluten-free diet and the ramifications of that for communicant members.
- Contact a food manufacturer. Write, e-mail or phone food manufacturers thanking them for voluntarily providing consumers with adequate ingredient and processing information on labels or providing them with a "celiac friendly" label idea, or reminding them of the benefits to you and your family of full disclosure of ingredient sources on food labels. (
 to see a sample letter.)
- Explain to friends or a club group what a malabsorption syndrome is and how it is dealt with both at home and away.
- Contact your state and national legislators, and share your story.
( to see a sample letter.)
- Have CSA send your primary health care professional a new patient packet explaining celiac disease. ( to contact the CSA office.)
- Have CSA send brochures to doctors and dietitians in your local area.
( to contact the CSA office.)
- CSA Membership A CSA membership means you will stay informed by receiving our quarterly newsletter, Lifeline. Membership dues and donations provide the newly diagnosed and their families access to quality information and fund projects such as research, information and community support that benefit the celiac community.
Buy a membership for a family member, health care
professional or for your local library, guaranteeing that CSA's
quarterly newsletter, Lifeline, is available to others.
- Make a donation to CSA. See our Donations page for ideas and a Wish List of needs.
- Encourage local chapter members to join CSA national. In addition to receiving CSA's quarterly newsletter, Lifeline, a national CSA member has the advantage of being part of the largest national celiac support group, whose voice is heard worldwide. (Chapters also receive funding based on the number of national members in the chapter.)
Contact the CSA office with your ideas and successes. Remember, CSA is continually looking for more ways to help the celiac community. The national office also has brochures and other handouts available to help you in your endeavor.
Past activities and actions during Celiac Awareness Month clearly indicate that one person, one little thing, can and does make a difference. Creating awareness about the disease and about CSA is a grand and great opportunity for each one of us. So ...
Start with a dream! Take the first step! Make it a reality!
You'll be glad you did!
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