Companies with a Conscience - Opa Greek Restaruant

Hello!

As promised this is my second post for Companies with a Conscience!

This bi-weekly post is to encourage positivity online and highlight restaurants that are doing good for the community.

For the weeks of 11/1/2015-11/15/2015 I am highlighting Opa Greek Restaurant!

I have chosen to highlight them due to their knowledge and ability to cater to the allergic community. I recently placed an order and when I asked my normal questions about latex gloves, possible allergens and my safety, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge the staff had. For the first time in a long time, while trying to receive answers pertaining to my allergies, I wasn't made to feel like I was burdening anyone.  I had an extensive conversation with them about my allergies and am so impressed with how allergy friendly they are. I would encourage everyone to visit Opa Greek Restaurant!

Opa Greek Restaurant
260 Islip Ave
Islip, NY 11751
631-650-0620
www.OpaGreekRest.com
Instagram: @OPSOFISLIP

Congratulations Opa Greek Restaurant for being a Company with a Conscience!

*If you would like to submit a "Company with a Conscience" for upcoming posts, please use this link Companies with a Conscience Submission Form *

Education...the Key to Saving Lives

So, I have been doing quite a bit of eating out recently, and have had some interesting experiences that I wanted to share.  By now, we all know my devotion to food and latex allergy awareness, and how important it is for someone with allergies to share with their food server and the establishment that they have an allergy.  If I didn't check the gloves that restaurants used I would just always be in the hospital.

**Disclaimer: These are my experiences with the restaurants at my time of service, I do not know current policies or changes in gloves.  If you have a latex allergy or sensitivity, I would suggest you check each time you go to a food service establishment before eating there, in case there are any changes**

There are a couple of restaurants that I would like to discuss here today, Medieval Times (Lyndhurst, NJ), Houlihan's (Bridgewater, NJ) and then a hotel located on Long Island.

Let’s start with Medieval Times, this is a HUGE chain with locations everywhere, hundreds of people per show, certainly not concerned with one individual...WRONG.  My experience at Medieval Times was rocky to start, but the initiative that was taken by the manager changed my experience completely.  I first sat down, and immediately asked my waitress if I could see the box of gloves because I have a latex allergy.  She seemed to know what she was talking about and said "oh I'm sorry they are latex! Are you allergic? I will bring you anything pre-packaged that I can so you can still eat!" Obviously, this was a very accommodating environment as she was willing to do extra work so that I could still enjoy my time; but from her information, they used latex gloves and I just accepted that.  A couple minutes later the manager walked over with a box of gloves and said, "You have a latex allergy? I just wanted to let you know that there is no latex in our kitchen, and I wanted to bring you the box to show you."  I was so impressed with his professionalism and care in regard to allergies. This manager made my experience very enjoyable and made me feel safe because of how concerned he was.  According to Medieval Times main hotline, they are each individually owned and operated so there is no corporate latex-free policy.  (I reached out to the castle to find the manager’s name so that he may get the proper credit, so as soon as I hear back, I will post it here with the proper thank you!)

Houlihan's was also a mixed experience, I had called ahead to find out what kind of gloves they used, the hostess who answered the phone told me they used latex, when I asked her if she could read the box to make sure, she seemed very annoyed but did it anyway. She came back to the phone and told me that they used vinyl and then hung up on me.  I was naturally upset with her lack of understanding, but went to eat there anyway.  When I got there, I asked the waiter to see the box of gloves, and was greeted by the manager shortly after, who had the box and seemed knowledgeable on allergies and the risks involved.  I told her about my experience on the phone, and she was very apologetic and compensated us with an appetizer. From then, everyone was nice and understanding of allergies so I felt comfortable enough to go a second time. The second time I went, our waitress was fantastic! She asked as soon as we got to the table if there were any allergies she should be aware of so she could tell the kitchen and I rattled them off to her.  I was impressed that she asked at all, because it’s very rare that waiters and waitresses ask, let alone are aware of it.  We spoke briefly and she shared with me her concern for those of us with allergies, even though she does not have one herself.  Because of the kindness shown by employees of Houlihan's in Bridgewater, I feel very comfortable eating there and feel like it is a safe environment.

I had a negative experience at a hotel, and I rather not share the name but I wanted to explain why it is so important to continue to be an advocate for your allergies, so those who don't have an understanding of what we go through every day can learn a little bit more. I had asked the waitress what kind of gloves they use in the kitchen (which as you can tell, I ask everywhere I go) and she immediately said "latex", naturally, because of my experience, I asked her if she could go check the box, her response... "Seriously?!" with the biggest attitude I have ever had a waitress respond to me with.  (The gloves were in fact not latex).  We will all have experiences like I just explained, but it is important to not let people who are just unaware affect how you feel.  For a brief moment, I actually felt embarrassed to have asked, like I did something wrong. It wasn't until this moment that I realized how I was letting her control how I was feeling.  I was giving this random waitress the power to make me feel ashamed.

I quickly escaped this mind set, but was reminded of an important lesson.  Even with an allergy, you should let that empower you, not limit you.  Through education we can come together and encourage one another to be advocates.  There will always be bullies in life, there will always be people who will try to bring you down, but it is up to you to educate those people and stand up for yourself, and the millions of us who suffer from allergies.  Eight years ago I made the decision to be my own advocate and demanded to be heard about the severity of these allergies.  We can change the lives of many, make a difference, and we can all help the cause. 

Thank you for helping change the way of looking at allergies, and for helping spread awareness regarding severe allergic reactions! Education is key to saving lives!

-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

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