A Sweet Thank You for SAFAR!

It's the holiday season and we love to bake and decorate cookies!  We wanted to deliver something sweet to the team at SAFAR, the Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research to say "Thank you!" for all their important work.  This program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford is currently running clinical trials to desensitize people from their food allergies.  SAFAR is a cause that is important to ChAngels because two ChAngels,  Nicole & Lisa, had life-threatening peanut allergies.

Over the course of the trial, Lisa & Nicole ate a prescribed number of peanuts, which increased gradually over time, until they were reaction free and both tested negative for peanut allergies.  They  have to  eat a certain amount of whatever their food allergen is (in this case peanuts) every day to keep up their tolerance. It is new, life-saving technology and is currently the closest thing to a cure that there is for food allergies. We can now do so many more things and no longer have to constantly worry about what they are eating.  (We also rolled coins and were surprised, again, at how those coins can add up so quickly.  In this case, $200 for SAFAR!)

Halloween at the BOO-tiful Fisher House

ChAngels loves the work at Fisher House a "home away from home" for the families of patients  receiving medical care at military and VA medical centers.    There are currently 58 Fisher Houses all around the country, where more than 160,000 families have stayed free of charge since 1900, and many more under construction. We love the Fisher House motto, "Because a Family's Love is Good Medicine," and we wanted to help the kids celebrate Halloween by providing goodie bags for them and their visiting friends.

We were proud to co-host the grand opening ceremony for the "Fisher House Market,"a playhouse in the Fisher House playground.  We provided market items (plastic fruits and foods) for the kids to play with and  baked cookies and provided drinks for the dedication.  



We smile every time we drive by the VA Hospital & Fischer House in Palo Alto, and were happy to learn about the care available to those who have so bravely served our country.

We Turned Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

About 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, and over 85% of those women have no family history.  We were so pleased to raise awareness for the 2.8 million women in the US with a history of breast cancer, by wearing our pink and hiking the popular "Dish" in the hills near Stanford University.  Our walk was inspired by our friends at Poised who organize the walk annually, but this year our calendar was full on their hike date, October 27th.  So, in true ChAngels style, we walked on our own so we could still participate.  We were able to donate $200 for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarves, to purchase scarves for cancer patients who have lost their hair during treatment.

Kick-Off a New Year and Breast Cancer Walk

A few weeks back we kicked off this year with a meeting right where it all started five year's ago, in Kate's living room.  We welcomed a new member, Nicole and her mom, and we were full of excitement and ideas.

October 6th will be our first event.  We are walking for Breast Cancer.  We've invited friends to bring change and wear pink.  All donations from this event will be given to Poised founders Yvonne and Jill, who are walking later this month in their annual Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarves walk.  They will then purchase scarves for cancer patients at Stanford.  They've inspired us in the past with their walk, and we are so happy for the inspiration.

Towels for Palae Metta - A ChAngels Party

Our party at the beginning of June was a big success.  We had several friends join us for an informative and fun afternoon.  Upon arrival, our guests watched a 5 minute video made by ChAngel, Lily.   First, it was educational just to learn where exactly Burma is on the world map! Then we learned what it is like to live there, and the video showed us the women and children at the HIV/AIDS clinic, Palae Metta in Yangon. They live with the bare necessities and really need our help.

Then the learning continued as we all had to learn to thread a needle and sew by hand.  The knots were the hardest part!  We sewed pockets onto colorful beach towels and stuffed the pockets with goodies for the moms and children at the clinic.  We added flip flops, mini stuffed animals, soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste to the pockets.  They were brimming with useful and cuddly things.

Thanks to all our friends who came that day and made our party fun and productive.  In the end we sent 25 beautiful, goodie-filled towels to  Palae Metta!

Palae Metta

The ChAngels Spring Party will focus on supporting the women and children of Palae Metta.  We will be sewing pockets onto towels to stuff with flip-flops, soap and teddy bears - all needed items for these moms and their families. 

Palae Metta is a clinical residence for women and children living with HIV/AIDS in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma). Residents who live in Palae Metta receive antiretroviral, supporting medications and vitamins, nutritious meals, basic clothing and linens, mosquito nets and toiletries in a warm, supportive, home-like setting. Many of the residents are vulnerable girls and young women from rural ethnic areas. Palae Metta's goal is get these young women and children healthy and back on their feet with the skills and networks they need to lead healthy, productive lives. Residents are welcomed into a network that provides emotional counseling, job retraining and/or school (depending on age and level), basic financial and life-skills training and the opportunity to join support groups and savings groups.

Because HIV/AIDS is so stigmatized in Burma, staff work closely with residents, their families and communities to reintegrate the young women and children as productive, respected members of society. To date, Palae Metta has served up to 40 people—including 15 children, 15 pregnant women and their children, 5 outpatients, and 5 emergency cases when beds are available—with 17–23 residents at any given time. Built in 2010 with the generous grant from the Barnett family, Palae Metta operates thanks to their continued support.

Puppy for a Cure

Last month Kate and her family brought home this adorable Australian Labradoodle named Mackey.
Mac, Mackey or Macintosh was part of an event called Spring Fling, which takes place each April in Half Moon Bay, California. Spring Fling is a 16 hour event that includes a golf classic, lunch and shopping boutique and an evening bash-with all proceeds going to benefit JDRF, the leading funder of research aimed at finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.  Kate's older sister Mary was diagnosed with this auto-immune disease when she was in 1st grade.  Until there is a cure found she must inject insulin in order to stay alive, while carefully balancing her food intake, stress and exercise to keep her blood sugar levels even.  Type 1 diabetes is different than type 2 diabetes, which is often a result of poor lifestyle choices, like diet and exercise.

The ChAngels have helped support Spring Fling and the Walk to Cure Diabetes to raise awareness and Mackey did his part too by staring in the live auction.  It was a big surprise that Kate's family won him and now ChAngels meetings often involve a puppy playdates!  Welcome, Mackey-you are a ChAngel at heart!

You can learn more about JDRF type 1 diabetes and Spring Fling here.

In February, ChAngels visited the Opportunity Center, a local family shelter in Palo Alto. It was a happy and fun visit. We brought dinner to the shelter families: lasagna, bread, salad, cookies and brownies, and drinks.

The families at the shelter were very thankful and welcoming. Since it is a family shelter, there were many kids that night, so we brought along a craft to entertain them. The children enjoyed making Valentine's cards and bookmarks, and us ChAngels girls had so much fun helping them. Some of the kids played basketball with two Menlo high school students who came to help us through Menlo School's Community Cooks project. It was great to have Jack H. and Jack K. with us.

The shelter families were so kind an grateful, and they loved the food. We were even able to send everyone home with leftovers. The families we met were all friendly and we enjoyed getting to know them. I think all the shelter moms liked having a little time while we entertained the kids, and the Valentine's notes they made for their parents were really cute.

The ChAngels all agreed that this was such a feel-good evening that we'd like to do it again someday.