Updates and Info

Hey!

I know it has been way to long since I have posted, but I have been crazy busy with classes starting and putting the finishing touches on the ALAA Walk to raise Awareness about Latex Allergies!!!!! =] It should be a pretty awesome event.  We will be meeting at Field 3 at Sunken Meadow State Park at 11, and we will be walking on the boardwalk at 12pm!  Come down with your teams and raise awareness about Latex Allergies, we will have pageant royalty there to support this cause, as well as some very special guests!  Register at Latexawarenesswalk.wix.com/home

Everything else is going well, so no complaints there! This is my senior year of college, so I think it is going to be a pretty crazy year for me, also with applications for law school needing to go out soon, I will definitely be busier than before!

I also wanted to let you guys know, that I did not win the Miss Long Island Pageant, but it went to a great girl, so I cannot complain! I am happy to have 2 new beautiful sister queens that I love! =] Jessica Ricco, Miss Long Island 2013, and Nikki Orlando, Miss Long Island Teen 2013

I also competed in the Miss Hudson Valley Pageant, and won the Service Award.  The service award was given to the individual who demonstrated a knowledge of their platform, and dedication to the community.  I was so thrilled and honored to have won that award.  After 6 years of advocating for Latex Allergies, the award had made me feel like my efforts are being recognized, so it was the best award I could have received!  The beautiful girl who won that title, is also my pageant sister, Jessica Pinckney, Miss Hudson Valley 2013!  I could not be more proud of her success! =]

I think thats all the updates I have for you though.  Until Next Time! (Dont forget to register for the ALAA Walk.  Latexawarenesswalk.wix.com/home )

Peace and Love always,

Leanne <3

Official Announcement! ALAA Walk 2012

It is time to officially announce the 2012 American Latex Allergy Association (ALAA) Awareness Walk, happening October 7th 2012 at Sunken Meadow State Park!!! 

Please go to the registration website to learn more about ALAA, register, and to be directed to donate! 

Get your teams together and start spreading the word about the severity of Latex Allergies!


Please contact me if you have ANY questions regarding this walk, potential sponsors, how to volunteer, or how to sign up, please do not hesitate to reach out to me!!!  I can be reached regarding this walk at Latexawarenesswalk@gmail.com


I am so excited to announce this walk, and myself and the ALAA appreciate all of your support!
=]

To donate and register, please click the links below!

Donate // Register

Thank you all again for your continued support, I will be sure to keep everyone updated on the progress of the walk, and I hope to see you all there!!! =]

Character Band-Aid Drive for Cohen's Children's Hospital

Hello Everyone!

I am holding a Character Band-Aid Drive in support of another fundraiser for Cohen's Children's Hospital being held by an adorable girl named Taylor.  Taylor is has been a patient at Cohen's Children's Hospital and has been on chemo for 20 months of the past 2 years being treated for Neuro Degenerative Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.  Her mom says that picking out her Character Band-Aid after treatments was always her biggest decision.  Taylor's goal is to collect 300 boxes of Character Band-Aids to donate to the hospital, and I would love to help her collect more than that!

I will be collecting the Band-Aids until August 28, 2012 because after that I go off to school, but the fundraiser will be until September 30th, 2012, if you still want to donate!

They are also looking to collect Latex-Free Band-Aids, and as you may know, is very important to me.  I can only imagine how hard it must be for a child going through chemo, and not be able to pick out a Character Band-Aid because of their Latex Allergy.  I know if people make an effort to donate Latex-Free Band-Aid's the children will be thrilled they can pick out a Band-Aid like the other kids, instead of having to take a plain one.

If you are looking for a Latex-Free Band-Aid, look for this logo:

Also, Curad brand Band-Aids are usually Latex-Free, but make sure to check the box anyway, just in case! 

I appreciate all of the support that is received from everyone!

To read more about the Band-Aid Drive, visit the Facebook page!  Character Band-Aid Drive Facebook Page


Have a great night!!!

=]

A Big THANK YOU! Clothing Drive 2012

Hey guys!

The clothing drive for Big Brothers Big Sisters Long Island was a success!! We had so many bags of clothes donated and people came out from all of Long Island to donate to this awesome cause! =] The pictures are below to show how amazing this fundraiser went, I could not have been happier with the support I received from my community!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who donated clothes to my clothing drive benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island!


 xoxo

-Leanne

We have a Location!

I am so thrilled to announce that the American Latex Allergy Association will be holding its First Annual Latex Allergy Awareness Walk at Sunken Meadow State Park!  I am not able to officially announce the date because we are still in search for an insurance agent, so if anyone has a name and phone number of someone we can use for the walk, please please please contact me!!! =]

I also wanted to remind everyone that my clothing drive ends on July 25!!! =] All clothing will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters Long Island! If you have any clothing you would like to donate please contact me! =]

Lastly, this morning I woke up to the horrible news about the movie theater shooting.  My heart goes out to the friends and family of the victims and the victims themselves.  May those who we have lost Rest In Peace, and those who are have been injured have a speedy recovery!

Wishing peace, love, and good thoughts to everyone throughout this weekend and always!!

xoxo

Allergy Eats!

I just discovered this amazing iPhone and Android app called AllergyEats  I have always been aware of the Allergy Eats website, (Allergy Eats) and have used it several times when looking for Allergy Free dining, but now they went mobile! This app is a must-have for anyone with allergies!  Although no one can ever guarantee that there is not a risk for an allergic reaction, this database makes it a lot easier for those looking for a restaurant.  From their website "AllergyEats is a comprehensive, user-friendly guide to allergy-friendly restaurants across the United States. It is a peer-reviewed directory of restaurants – rated by people with food allergies, for people with food allergies." http://www.allergyeats.com/aboutUs.php  

To make this database search even easier, you can look up allergy free food service establishments by your allergy, there are 10 options (Peanut, Dairy, Wheat, Fish, Sesame, Tree Nuts, Eggs, Gluten, Shellfish, and Soy) and you can look for restaurants friendly to your specific allergy.

I would really suggest adding this app to your phone because even if you don't have food allergies yourself, you may be with someone who is requires an allergy friendly meal, and by having this app, you can make it easy to eat somewhere everyone can enjoy! =]

ALAA Walk & Other Works-in-Progress

ALAA Walk 

Well, as it turns out, planning a walk from scratch is HARD work!!!  We have spent countless nights trying to find a location, and trying to get event insurance for that day.  It is a very very hard process!  Since we are trying to have the event in October, which is National Latex Allergy Awareness Week, we are pretty pressed for time.

I am reaching out to my friends and family to ask for help with this one.  If anyone has any information on someone who can give us a quote for event insurance, PLEASE reach out to me!
On that note, we are still working hard to try to get this walk put into place so the American Latex Allergy Association can have their first ever Latex Allergy Awareness Walk!!!!!! =]

If anyone would like to become more educated about the progress being made to make people more Latex Safe, please click here to review the ALAA Website!

Big Brothers Big Sisters Clothing Drive

On a separate note, I am currently putting together another Clothing Drive for Big Brothers Big Sisters Long Island!  I just printed out the flyers to distribute in my community, and I will be officially collecting clothing from them on Sunday, July 22, 2012 and will stop collecting on Wednesday July 25, 2012!  Last time I held this fundraiser, I collected over 60 bags of clothing!!!  I am hoping that this time I can double that! =]  It is weird to see that my first blog post was for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Clothing Donation I did back in 2010!

Other Information

I am also busy planning events for my sorority, I am Community Service, Philanthropy, and Paraphernalia chairs, so I want to have our events planned early on in the semester, because I learned from past semesters, that having the events early in the semester allows for other chairs to plan their events!

On top of all of this planning, I am studying for my LSAT, working as an Intern at AXA Advisors, preparing for the Miss Long Island 2013 Pageant, and getting ready for my 12 credit summer semester to start soon.  As you can see, this is why I haven't been able to post recently! Even though I do all of this, I still have had time to see my sorority sisters, and my pageant sisters.  I recently attended a walk for Cystic Fibrosis with my Long Island Sister Queen turned Miss New York Teen 2012 Sabrina Mastrangelo!  It was a great feeling getting back into the Long Island community and helping out!

Looking back on past posts, I had let you all know that I was diagnosed with Pre-Diabetes, and just as an update, I am doing well, not completely off the medication yet, but my doctor says maybe a few more months and I should no longer be at risk for developing type 2 diabetes!  This is a great accomplishment in itself and it is a reminder that hard work does pay off.  I have been following all of the instructions of my doctor, and have lost over 40 lbs!!  I am not usually one to post publicly about my weight, but if 1 person reading this could avoid being diagnosed with diabetes because they saw it was possible to get healthy posting this has paid off!

For the Miss Long Island Pageant, there are only 47 short days left until the competition! Everyday I am getting myself prepared to compete for this prestigious title and everyday I get more and more excited!  Knowing how much good I did with the title of Miss Long Island Teen 2010 just makes me that much more excited to compete for the Miss Long Island 2013 title! Wish me luck! =]

I think that is all I have for now, so I am going to leave you with this little quote, because by now you probably realize I LOVE quotes!

"We gotta do much more than believe
if we wanna see the world change
We gotta do much more than believe
if we really wanna change things"

-Dave Matthews Band

Click above to hear the song on youtube.com

Peace and Love Always! <3

"No Room for Vengeance"

 If you remember, I spoke about the death of another student from Commack High School, I would like to ask you all to sign this petition for the book "No Room for Vengeance" to be added to Commack High School's curriculum.  It is very important for there to be some sort of teaching tools for students to refer to when they are having difficulty with everyday problems and need help finding the proper solution.  With this book, students will be able to see real life examples of how revenge is not the answer to solving problems.

"The cycle of violence in schools continues without educating children how to prevent conflict by teaching empathy and at the same time use the inevitable conflict as a teachable moment when incidences such as "bullying" arises. The reaction is often to immediately suspend without focusing on prevention, which results in rewarding the disruptive behavior. The book "No Room For Vengeance" teaches how to resolve conflict in a meaningful way. For more information visit www.noroomforvengeance.com" (From Change.org website)

Here is the link to the petition, I would appreciate if everyone could fill this out and potentially save a life by doing so, "No Room for Vengeance" Petition

I have worked with both Rob Goldman J.D., Psy D and Victoria Ruvolo at the Suffolk County Probation TASTE Program.  TASTE is an amazing program designed to help young adults learn accountability for their actions.  I can personally say that both Rob and Victoria have an incredible impact on those that go through the TASTE Program and those lessons can be seen in their book "No Room for Vengeance."

Commack has a lot going on, and if we take the time to sit and sign a petition for this book to be used in the High School, not only could it save the life of someone's son or daughter, it will also teach students valuable life lessons.

If there are any questions regarding the TASTE Program or the book "No Room for Vengeance" Please contact Rob Goldman at RGoldy@aol.com

If interested in purchasing the book please click here

I hope everyone had a great holiday this past week, I will be in touch soon!!!

xoxo

-Leanne