The GF Spread at the SE MN Celiac Support Group (and more food came after this photo was taken)
This weekend I had the great opportunity to speak with the Southeast Minnesota Celiac Support Group based in Rochester, MN. They were engaged, so knowledgeable and ready to talk about all things celiac as we get ready for those upcoming Holiday months and gatherings.
I just wanted to report on a few things they have going on down there, so if you live in this area and don’t know about these events, you should definitely check them out.
September 22nd — Ames, IA: Iowa Celiac Conference This conference I didn’t know about until Saturday and it looks very interesting. Friend of The Savvy Celiac, founder of 1in133.org and gluten free entrepreneur/baker Jules Shepard aka Jules Gluten Free will be there speaking. See the speaker info here.
September 27th 4:00-6:30 p.m. The HyVee North branch grocery store has a Packing a GF Lunch class. This was announced at the support group meeting. I couldn’t find it on their website so I would recommend calling them before you head over.
October 11th from 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Channel One Food Bank holds its annual event called Empty Bowls. It is a fundraiser for the food bank. The SE MN Celiac Support Group donated food items for the organization at Saturday’s meeting. The event actually has a gluten free soup option for this fundraiser where you pay your entry fee, pick out a hand crafted ceramic bowl (that you get to keep!) and get it filled with gluten free soup. The support group is donating the gluten-free bread for the event as well. If you can get there, it would be a different way to raise awareness for the gluten free lifestyle and help the local food bank (which most food banks are always in need of gluten free food donations).
The group itself has a cookie exchange coming up in December as well.
Let’s not forget the celiac research that Dr. Joseph Murray does at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester plus the great Gluten Free Cupboard store! Rochester celiacs sure are in good hands!
*Rochester’s support group is associated with the Celiac Sprue Association. If you want to look for a CSA support group in your area, click here.
Tags: celiac, conference, gluten-free, support group
October 10th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
I’ve been very impressed with the efforts of the SE MN Celiac group to get local restaurants to provide GF options – and am excited to be able to participate in the food shelf fundraiser tomorrow. Having moved to Rochester recently, I’m looking forward to joining the group. Thanks for the info!