Meet Eleanor, a mom on a mission. When her son was diagnosed with severe food allergies in 2004, Eleanor was launched into a whirlwind of support and advocacy for the food allergy community, eventually leading her to found and lead the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT). Alongside the FAACT leadership team, she provides the education, advocacy, awareness, and grassroots outreach needed for the food allergy community through programming available to all. Tune in to hear the story behind Eleanor’s incredible efforts and successes and her commitment to inclusivity that drives everything she does.
To learn more about FAACT, their amazing resources, and Camp TAG visit: https://www.foodallergyawareness.org/
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Eleanor Garrow-Holding has worked, educated, and advocated in the food allergy community since 2004. She was inspired to start this work after her son, Thomas, was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies to tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and sesame; eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) triggered by milk and wheat; asthma; and environmental allergies. In December 2015, Thomas had a food challenge with wheat and was no longer IgE-allergic to wheat. After a 3-month trial with wheat and another 3-month trial with milk (post wheat) in his diet and upper endoscopies, he has also outgrown the wheat and milk triggers for EoE and is in remission from EoE as of July 2016. Thomas outgrew his peanut allergy in 2016 at age thirteen. In October 2019, at age sixteen, Thomas outgrew almond, sesame, and brazil nut and continues to avoid walnut, cashew, pecan, hazelnut, and pistachio.
As CEO of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT), Eleanor provides leadership, development, and implementation for all of FAACT’s initiatives and programs, including Camp TAG (The Allergy Gang) – a summer camp for children with food allergies and their siblings that Eleanor founded in 2009. Eleanor has a Bachelor of Healthcare Administration degree from Lewis University in Romeoville, IL, and worked in hospital management for 15 years in Chicago and suburban Chicago prior to working in the nonprofit sector.After Thomas was diagnosed in 2004, Eleanor established a food allergy support group in a southwest Chicago suburb, Parents of Children Having Allergies (POCHA) of Will County, focusing on education and advocacy; chaired the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy in Chicago in 2007 and 2008; was awarded the FAAN Muriel C. Furlong Award for Community Service in 2008; and advocated in the Illinois state legislature on food allergy and Eosinophilic Disorders (EGID, EoE) issues. Thanks to the efforts of Eleanor and other patient advocates, legislation to ensure insurance coverage for elemental formulas was signed into law in 2007 and legislation establishing food allergy management guidelines for Illinois schools was signed into law in 2009.
Eleanor joined the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network™ (FAAN) in 2009 as Vice President of Education and Outreach, where she oversaw educational initiatives, all food allergy conferences, the Teen Summit, Camp TAG (The Allergy Gang) now under FAACT’s umbrella, a Teen Advisory Group, support group development, and more. She advocated for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Management Act (FAAMA) in Washington, DC, with her son Thomas as part of FAAN’s Kids Congress on Capitol Hill and also advocated on Capitol Hill for the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act. Eleanor served on the expert panel for the CDC’s Voluntary Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Schools and Early Care and Education Programs and was a reviewer for the National Association of Education (NEA) Food Allergy Book: What School Employees Need to Know. Eleanor conducted numerous radio, television, and print interviews on food allergy issues and wrote articles for Allergic Living and Living Without magazines. She presented at national and regional conferences about food allergy management in school and restaurant settings and educated personnel in schools and school districts across the country on food allergy management in schools and continues to do so with FAACT.In 2013, Eleanor joined the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders (CCED) as Senior Specialist of Program Management at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center. There she led day-to-day clinical operations, clinical research projects, program development, marketing, and development.Eleanor has and continues to educate employees from numerous food industry companies and entertainment venues about food allergies, such as McDonald’s Corporation, The Hain Celestial Group, Mars Wrigley, all SeaWorld Parks, and more.Leading the charge at FAACT, Eleanor and the FAACT Leadership Team provides the education, advocacy, awareness, and grassroots outreach needed for the food allergy community.
Eleanor serves on the National Peanut Board's Allergy Education Advisory Council, Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform Board (GAAPP), St. Louis Children’s Food Allergy Management & Education (FAME) National Advisory Board, and Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Food Allergen Control Committee. In August 2015, Eleanor was inducted into The National Association of Professional Women's (NAPW) VIP Professional of the Year Circle for her commitment to healthcare and nonprofit industries. FAACT is The Voice of Food Allergy Awareness. In 2022, Eleanor was a Contributor for The Change Guidebook (3-8-2022, HCI/Simon & Schuster).
