The I Can't Eat THAT Club!

[Guest guest]

This is a letter from my son, I was wondering if you all could forward this

to whomever you feel might be able to help him. I am very proud of his

efforts with this Club. It was 100% his idea! It has been very good for him

and others!

Thanks,

Laurie Renke

**************

Hi, I'm Max! I am 8 years old and I am in the 3rd grade at Thornton

School in Londonderry, New Hampshire. I am a Bear Cub Scout (I even went to

Cub Scout Camp this summer at Camp Carpenter), I play the piano, I play

soccer and baseball, and I ski with my family at Ragged Mt. In Danbury, NH

(My dad is on the Ski Patrol there, that's cool), and my favorite things are

collections, drawing, and I love to invent things (I have gone to Camp

Invention for two years now). I love my family and have lots of fun with my

friends. My best friends name is Ethan, besides my brother Jake that is! Oh,

and by the way, I have Celiac Disease (In short I can not eat GLUTEN, not

even a crumb) and I started a club called; The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club for

kids like me.

As you can see, being on a special diet and not being able to eat certain

foods has not slowed me down or kept me from being involved in all types of

fun things. I even went to Camp Celiac 2000 where I met lots of kids with

Celiac Disease. It was a great place to feel " safe " about the food we ate,

and just be kids. I can't wait to go back next year.

My club is NOT just for kids with Celiac Disease however. It is for any

school aged child who must be on ANY TYPE OF SPECIAL DIET and for any other

school aged child who wants to help support us by understanding that we are

just kids, and we want to have fun, regardless of our food related issues.

We want everyone to feel welcome!

Our first club meeting was in September of 2000 and it was a great day to

meet each other and learn about what different diets (or the same) we were

all required to be on to be healthy. We played games and made friends. It

was a lot of fun!

In October 2000 we had our first " Candy-Free " Halloween Party. NO FOOD

ALLOWED! But we didn't miss it one bit. We learned that Halloween is not

just about the Candy; much more goes into making it fun! I was a Robot, I

Invented my costume myself. We played games and had many treats (non-food

treats of course). We even decided that this was better because we were able

to have the toys and stuff for more than just one night! Our 2nd Annual

" Candy-Free " Halloween Party will be soon, I can't wait. I will be Inspector

Gadget this year; he likes to make all types of inventions too! Remember I

told you that I don't let my food issues stop me from having fun?

I know the whole world is not going to stop eating Pizza because I cannot

have Gluten (wheat) or Cheese (Because of the damage my undiagnosed Celiac

Disease caused in my small intestine, I can not have any milk products

either). But people can become aware enough about our issues to help us to

not feel so different when we go places. Learn not to say things that hurt

our feelings or are just plain dumb, or dangerous. There is also a great

safety concern with well meaning people who do not understand that ONE

" special treat " or slip up can be very dangerous. I am very interested in

helping to raise awareness of food related issues.

My family and I have come up with many great ways to work with my issues,

allowing me to be involved in many things and not miss out on the non-food

part of everyday things. We believe that ATTITUDE has a lot to do with how

hard things are for us on a day-to-day basis and especially at special

event, such as Birthday parties and school functions that involve eating.

One example is the box that my club put in our principle's office (full of

non-food treats), for teachers to come to take for their students who have

restricted diets when passing out food treats to the class. And a letter we

sent to all the teachers in our school reminding them to think about

non-food rewards from time to time. Food is everywhere, but does not need to

be the center of attention all the time and I am hoping to help others

understand this, regardless of whether they need to be on a special diet or

not.

Sure, it is hard at times, but the alternative for me is being very very

sick again. Too sick to even play soccer, like the year I had to take off

after my diagnosis. I'm not going there again! The Gluten was destroying the

part of my digestive system, which absorbs the nutrients from foods I was

eating. I was eating bucket loads of food each day, yet I had complete

malnutrition (I had zero villi left in my small intestines) and severe

osteoporosis that my back was starting to deform slightly and the doctors

were concerned that my bones would start to break if I played sports. This

is when I started to take Piano lessons. See, my ATTITUDE was, if I cannot

play sports, what else could I do? If my mother had not have pushed the

doctors for more testing, stating that she knew that my being so skinny was

not because of a fast metabolism, I would not be here today to write this

letter. So, now I stay on my special diet, I am feeling great and the

doctors say I am very healthy.

I hope to help other kids start, The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club in their town.

I hope to share some of the things we have done in our club, at home and at

school, to make things " safe " and easier for me and others to have fun and

not miss out on life because of our food restrictions.

Here are some of my goals.

1. I would like to introduce my club idea to school aged children.

2. I would like to help raise awareness of food-restricted diets, not just

Celiac Disease.

3. Raise awareness of what Celiac Disease is, as Celiac Disease is

misdiagnosed for many other things and this is totally unnecessary. This is

a very dangerous awareness issue.

4. Help other children and adults understand that fun doesn't always need to

involve food. Perhaps companies or the public will donate non-food treats to

a huge box for all the local clubs to share with all the local schools.

5. Help others develop a strong positive ATTITUDE about their restrictive

diets and hold the health benefits above the sad feelings that can be

present.

6. Provide information to the public about the different ways that they can

help to be compassionate towards people like me.

7. Provide information to people on restrictive diets, that anger towards

people who do not understand is unnecessary. At the present time the general

population has not been educated about these concerns. I hope to help change

this.

8. I hope to help others understand that expecting people who are not on

restricted diets to stop eating in front of us is very unrealistic and can

cause many issues for both parties. Again, this is all in the ATTITUDE!

9. Provide ideas, hints and tricks on helping ourselves and others make

parties, special occasions and everyday easier for kids like me. Helping

others find non-food alternatives to games, rewards and surprises. Not to

say that no food will be present, that won't happen, but from time to time

it would be healthier for everyone in the world, not just kids like me.

10. I would like to raise enough money to pass out the Elephant

Coloring Books to all children in schools. is an Elephant who

cannot eat peanuts. There is also a video that goes along with this title.

This would be great for schools too.

11. I hope to have an I Can't Eat " THAT " club book or coloring book someday

too!

12. I hope to provide an opportunity for other clubs to purchase T-shirts

like mine that say " The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club " . The logo has a funny-faced

man with sunglasses on and many different types of foods that cause food

related issues, like eggs, peanut, wheat, milk, etc.. It is a really cool

design that my friend Britton's (club member) mom designed for our club last

year. My doctor even wants one!

13. I would like to print up posters about our club idea to post at Doctor's

offices and other places.

If you are able to help me with any of the above goals please contact my

mother at her E-mail address at Laurie@.... Thank you for your time

to read my story and learn about my club.

Have a great day and please try to remember that ATTITUDE is the key!

God Bless, Max Renke

Snail Mail or send Free Samples(Non-food items only!)

The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club

C/O Laurie Renke

PO BOX 1070

Londonderry, NH 03053-1070

[Guest guest]

Wow, that is great and I wish there was something like that here on Long

Island, New York for the kids

(LJs mom)

*

* * \l/

*

* * ( @ @ )

*

* ---------o00--( _____ ) --00o---------

*

* HAVE A GREAT DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!

________________________________________________________________

GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!

Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!

Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:

http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

[Guest guest]

Laurie,

Wow!!! What a great (cool) kid you've got there. Mine are too little to

join in something like this right now, but I'm saving this for later. Tell

Max he is very wise beyond his years and he did a great job on his letter.

You've obviously done a great job, too, and must be so proud of him ).

Best Wishes,

Elsie (in TX)

The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club!

>

> This is a letter from my son, I was wondering if you all could forward

this

> to whomever you feel might be able to help him. I am very proud of his

> efforts with this Club. It was 100% his idea! It has been very good for

him

> and others!

>

> Thanks,

> Laurie Renke

>

>

> **************

>

>

> Hi, I'm Max! I am 8 years old and I am in the 3rd grade at

Thornton

> School in Londonderry, New Hampshire. I am a Bear Cub Scout (I even went

to

> Cub Scout Camp this summer at Camp Carpenter), I play the piano, I play

> soccer and baseball, and I ski with my family at Ragged Mt. In Danbury, NH

> (My dad is on the Ski Patrol there, that's cool), and my favorite things

are

> collections, drawing, and I love to invent things (I have gone to Camp

> Invention for two years now). I love my family and have lots of fun with

my

> friends. My best friends name is Ethan, besides my brother Jake that is!

Oh,

> and by the way, I have Celiac Disease (In short I can not eat GLUTEN, not

> even a crumb) and I started a club called; The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club for

> kids like me.

>

> As you can see, being on a special diet and not being able to eat certain

> foods has not slowed me down or kept me from being involved in all types

of

> fun things. I even went to Camp Celiac 2000 where I met lots of kids with

> Celiac Disease. It was a great place to feel " safe " about the food we ate,

> and just be kids. I can't wait to go back next year.

>

> My club is NOT just for kids with Celiac Disease however. It is for any

> school aged child who must be on ANY TYPE OF SPECIAL DIET and for any

other

> school aged child who wants to help support us by understanding that we

are

> just kids, and we want to have fun, regardless of our food related issues.

> We want everyone to feel welcome!

>

> Our first club meeting was in September of 2000 and it was a great day to

> meet each other and learn about what different diets (or the same) we were

> all required to be on to be healthy. We played games and made friends. It

> was a lot of fun!

>

> In October 2000 we had our first " Candy-Free " Halloween Party. NO FOOD

> ALLOWED! But we didn't miss it one bit. We learned that Halloween is not

> just about the Candy; much more goes into making it fun! I was a Robot, I

> Invented my costume myself. We played games and had many treats (non-food

> treats of course). We even decided that this was better because we were

able

> to have the toys and stuff for more than just one night! Our 2nd Annual

> " Candy-Free " Halloween Party will be soon, I can't wait. I will be

Inspector

> Gadget this year; he likes to make all types of inventions too! Remember I

> told you that I don't let my food issues stop me from having fun?

>

> I know the whole world is not going to stop eating Pizza because I cannot

> have Gluten (wheat) or Cheese (Because of the damage my undiagnosed Celiac

> Disease caused in my small intestine, I can not have any milk products

> either). But people can become aware enough about our issues to help us to

> not feel so different when we go places. Learn not to say things that hurt

> our feelings or are just plain dumb, or dangerous. There is also a great

> safety concern with well meaning people who do not understand that ONE

> " special treat " or slip up can be very dangerous. I am very interested in

> helping to raise awareness of food related issues.

>

> My family and I have come up with many great ways to work with my issues,

> allowing me to be involved in many things and not miss out on the non-food

> part of everyday things. We believe that ATTITUDE has a lot to do with how

> hard things are for us on a day-to-day basis and especially at special

> event, such as Birthday parties and school functions that involve eating.

> One example is the box that my club put in our principle's office (full of

> non-food treats), for teachers to come to take for their students who have

> restricted diets when passing out food treats to the class. And a letter

we

> sent to all the teachers in our school reminding them to think about

> non-food rewards from time to time. Food is everywhere, but does not need

to

> be the center of attention all the time and I am hoping to help others

> understand this, regardless of whether they need to be on a special diet

or

> not.

>

> Sure, it is hard at times, but the alternative for me is being very very

> sick again. Too sick to even play soccer, like the year I had to take off

> after my diagnosis. I'm not going there again! The Gluten was destroying

the

> part of my digestive system, which absorbs the nutrients from foods I was

> eating. I was eating bucket loads of food each day, yet I had complete

> malnutrition (I had zero villi left in my small intestines) and severe

> osteoporosis that my back was starting to deform slightly and the doctors

> were concerned that my bones would start to break if I played sports. This

> is when I started to take Piano lessons. See, my ATTITUDE was, if I cannot

> play sports, what else could I do? If my mother had not have pushed the

> doctors for more testing, stating that she knew that my being so skinny

was

> not because of a fast metabolism, I would not be here today to write this

> letter. So, now I stay on my special diet, I am feeling great and the

> doctors say I am very healthy.

>

> I hope to help other kids start, The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club in their

town.

> I hope to share some of the things we have done in our club, at home and

at

> school, to make things " safe " and easier for me and others to have fun and

> not miss out on life because of our food restrictions.

>

> Here are some of my goals.

>

> 1. I would like to introduce my club idea to school aged children.

>

> 2. I would like to help raise awareness of food-restricted diets, not just

> Celiac Disease.

>

> 3. Raise awareness of what Celiac Disease is, as Celiac Disease is

> misdiagnosed for many other things and this is totally unnecessary. This

is

> a very dangerous awareness issue.

>

> 4. Help other children and adults understand that fun doesn't always need

to

> involve food. Perhaps companies or the public will donate non-food treats

to

> a huge box for all the local clubs to share with all the local schools.

>

> 5. Help others develop a strong positive ATTITUDE about their restrictive

> diets and hold the health benefits above the sad feelings that can be

> present.

>

> 6. Provide information to the public about the different ways that they

can

> help to be compassionate towards people like me.

>

> 7. Provide information to people on restrictive diets, that anger towards

> people who do not understand is unnecessary. At the present time the

general

> population has not been educated about these concerns. I hope to help

change

> this.

>

> 8. I hope to help others understand that expecting people who are not on

> restricted diets to stop eating in front of us is very unrealistic and can

> cause many issues for both parties. Again, this is all in the ATTITUDE!

>

> 9. Provide ideas, hints and tricks on helping ourselves and others make

> parties, special occasions and everyday easier for kids like me. Helping

> others find non-food alternatives to games, rewards and surprises. Not to

> say that no food will be present, that won't happen, but from time to time

> it would be healthier for everyone in the world, not just kids like me.

>

> 10. I would like to raise enough money to pass out the Elephant

> Coloring Books to all children in schools. is an Elephant who

> cannot eat peanuts. There is also a video that goes along with this title.

> This would be great for schools too.

>

> 11. I hope to have an I Can't Eat " THAT " club book or coloring book

someday

> too!

>

> 12. I hope to provide an opportunity for other clubs to purchase T-shirts

> like mine that say " The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club " . The logo has a

funny-faced

> man with sunglasses on and many different types of foods that cause food

> related issues, like eggs, peanut, wheat, milk, etc.. It is a really cool

> design that my friend Britton's (club member) mom designed for our club

last

> year. My doctor even wants one!

>

> 13. I would like to print up posters about our club idea to post at

Doctor's

> offices and other places.

>

> If you are able to help me with any of the above goals please contact my

> mother at her E-mail address at Laurie@.... Thank you for your

time

> to read my story and learn about my club.

>

> Have a great day and please try to remember that ATTITUDE is the key!

>

> God Bless, Max Renke

>

>

>

> Snail Mail or send Free Samples(Non-food items only!)

>

> The I Can't Eat " THAT " Club

>

> C/O Laurie Renke

>

> PO BOX 1070

>

> Londonderry, NH 03053-1070

>

>

>