From Our Thankful Hearts to Yours
To our cherished Red Sneakers for Oakley community,
We are grateful for you. We want to thank all of you for making the Red Sneakers for Oakley Community what it is. It has been a difficult year for us as we endured the 1 year anniversary of Oakley’s passing. We miss him every day. It is you, our supporters, and our achievements to date, that keep us focused on our important work to honor his legacy.
We were able to accomplish great things in 2017 for the sake of children and families with food allergies because of your friendship and support. This past year brought continuing threats to people who suffer from food allergies, with many new tragic, unnecessary deaths from anaphylaxis. But, with your support, Red Sneakers for Oakley is rising to the meet the challenge of raising awareness, spreading knowledge, and saving lives. This year, among other things:
(1) We expanded our School Initiative across the United States in elementary-high schools, and universities, in states including Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont. And the list keeps on growing.
(2) We launched a Food Allergy Awareness campaign nationwide that offered actionable tips on how to provide safe food allergy protocols. The campaign was featured in online and offline publications, media, and TV, nationwide and overseas, with an estimated reach of over a million people.
(3) We received over 50 testimonials that Oakley’s story is SAVING LIVES. Parents have contacted us from all over the world saying that they believe our awareness raising equipped them with the knowledge needed to act quickly and administer epinephrine, a step they would not have immediately taken previously upon their child being exposed to an allergen.
(4) Our online support community and social media footprint grew to a cumulative reach of over 100,000 people.
(5) We were honored to be given the Starbucks #GIVEGOOD award for the charity having the most impact in our community.
Looking forward into 2018, we turn to you, our friends and supporters. An an independent non-profit, we rely on supporters like you to make our work possible.
Your donation, large or small, ensures that we can expand our school initiative with Red Sneakers for Oakley Food Allergy Awareness Days, continue to fund awareness campaigns, and ensure our growing family of supporters have the resources they need to stay informed and take steps to educate the general public about the serious dangers of anaphylaxis, and SAVE LIVES. Our goals for 2018 also include new advocacy and awareness initiatives to reach additional constituencies, such as corporations, sports venues, restaurants, and much more.
We couldn’t have come this far without you. Together, we can keep making progress in our critical work to keep children and adults alike safe.
We wish you and your family a healthy and happy 2018. From our hearts to yours,
Red Sneakers for Oakley