Helping Hands—Lots of Them!
September 18, 2012 at 10:28 am Nancy 2 comments
It’s time for NFCA’s Appetite for Awareness!
The NFCA Team is very excited about the 2012 edition of this signature event. I can’t wait to see which doctors are paired with which restaurant to prepare and offer true gluten-free delights to our guests. Appetite for Awareness brings out the gourmet in most of us as we table hop between the booths of some of the best restaurants in the Greater Philadelphia area.
Today, I learned that there will be about 60 exhibitors who are ready to highlight the latest gluten-free products and distribute educational materials to all attendees. Add the Beer Garden with flat screen TVs and “the game,” the Children’s Pavilion with games for the whole family, and cooking demos for the Julia Child in each of us, and you have quite an afternoon!
Our “helping hands” at Appetite for Awareness 2010
How does the NFCA Team make all of this happen? The short answer is, we don’t. Well, more correctly, we don’t do it alone. Each year, a small army of volunteers puts on their Appetite for Awareness T-shirts and jumps in to help.
From face painting to staffing the NFCA store, our wonderful volunteers do it all!
Our guests will meet them all, from manning the registration desk to helping at the NFCA Shop to selling tickets for the drawings (including a lease on a Mercedes-Benz!) and much, much more. This volunteer corps is an essential ingredient in the success of each and every Appetite for Awareness that NFCA has held over the years.
This year, over 75 volunteers plus a cadre of students will take the floor to make this the best event ever. Some are first-timers who will be amazed and others are old hands who know the ropes and always are enthusiastic.
NFCA volunteers help registration run smoothly.
If we held a contest for the volunteer who traveled the greatest distance to get to the Historic Strawbridge Building, Cecelia Bonaduce from Baltimore probably would win (plus, she originally hails from California). Most years as an Appetite for Awareness volunteer? Probably Karen Dalrymple and Donna Sawka. Husband and wife teams — Jen and Kenny Arters, Judy and Mike Paul, Eva and Marv Schlanger. More family ties — Patti and Jessica Townsend, Amanda and Sam Beeler, Jody and Bruce Finkel, Sandy and Rachel Cogan, Eileen and Jim Grady. And, organizing this whole team—Julie Cooper. Amazing!
Looking forward to a great time!
- Nancy
Entry filed under: Nancy. Tags: Appetite for Awareness, awareness events, celiac, celiac awareness, celiac disease, events, family, free gluten-free samples, gluten-free, gluten-free diet, gluten-free drawings, gluten-free events, gluten-free kids, gluten-free restaurants, gluten-free vendors, gourmet gluten-free, NFCA in the wild, NFCA volunteers, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, spreading awareness, volunteers.
1. Erin Smith (@gfreefun) | September 18, 2012 at 10:45 am
Nancy, looking for to seeing you, the NFCA staff, and all of the volunteers on Sunday!
2. Nancy Ginter | September 25, 2012 at 10:48 am
Erin: So glad you made it to Philadelphia! You looked great in the Michael Savett video and even better in person. Thanks for all of your help. Nancy