When hunger strikes, it’s an easy fix – open the pantry, raid the fridge or grab bowl of cereal or a piece of toast. But if you’re one of the 1 in 100 children who have celiac disease and you are at a friend’s house, then twenty questions, label reading and a call home to double-check may come between you and your desire to fill your empty belly.
Although awareness surrounding food safety for people with celiac disease has grown in leaps and bounds over the last two decades, when Elaine was diagnosed back in 2000, it was still a steep learning curve for most parents, not to mention schools and restaurants.
Wanting to find out everything she could about the autoimmune disease that forced her to eradicate wheat, barley, rye, malt and their byproducts from her diet, Elaine had attended a celiac conference at Stanford University where the lack of support for families dealing with gluten-related issues was clear.
Elaine became active in a local chapter of ROCK (Raising Our Celiac Kids) and learned more about the issues kids with celiac faced daily, like having to remember to pack your own food for everywhere you go, missing out on classroom birthday cupcakes or pizza parties and having to educate adults on what being celiac meant. After some encouragement from local parents, Dana Doscher, Kevin Dimler and Jackie Corley, Elaine started planning a celiac camp.
It took three years of research to find resources and to perfect recipes with help from Jacqueline Mallorca, Celiac Cookbook Author, The Wheat Free Cook and Gluten Free Italian. Elaine wasn’t about to serve anything that didn’t taste fabulous! She worked with the Celiac Community Foundation of Northern California to put together the program, which at the time was the only free camp in the United States. In 2007, TTFF welcomed 85 campers ages 9 to 17 from Northern California, Arizona, Denver and San Diego at the first celiac camp, which even included a gluten-free mini food expo showcasing some of Elaine’s favorite gluten-free finds.
The 6-day camp included all the traditional fun, like swimming, boating, art projects, movie night, and campfires. But best of all, celiac campers could check their food questions at the door. All meals were certified gluten-free. TTFF served muffins, pasta, pies, pizza and birthday cakes – it didn’t even matter if anyone was celebrating a birthday during camp – Elaine wanted the kids to enjoy and celebrate a communal BIRTHDAY PARTY where they could enjoy cake without having to worry.
Preparing for the celiac campers at camp takes time. The kitchen has to be cleared out completely and the ovens double-cleaned to bake off any gluten residuals from other camps. Elaine frequents the Natural Food Expo in Anaheim to see what’s new and solicit food donations from companies that specialize in gluten-free cuisine. To date, TTFF has worked with over 150 different vendors to create the specialized menu for our campers.
Most summers during Celiac Camp you can find Elaine in the dining hall kitchen making sure everything runs smoothly and you can hear her say, “If it’s not great, we won’t serve it!”