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All About UsOUR COMPANY: "We created this Website when we were both in elementary school. These ideas were ours, not our parents. Mom is a great secretary though! Kids can make a difference! We encourage all kids and adults to learn to be positive and speak up for themselves and those who can't!" -Max and Jake RenkeOur motto has always been:Fun is spelled: F-U-N, not F-O-O-D! *You can read about us below our History Of Advocacy.
HISTORY OF ADVOCACY: Max- age 7:
Max- age 8:
Jake age 7, Max age 9:
Jake age 9, Max age 10:
Max age 10:
This is the cover of the booklet Max brought with him to help educate NH Reps.
Max and Senator Gregg
Max with NH Representative Charlie Bass
Max with Senator Sununu
Max age 11:
Max age 12:
Max age 13:
Max age 15:
FOR CURRENT NEWS: SEE HOME PAGE Max Renke (April 2009)Hi,
I’m Max. I am 16 years old and I am in the 10th grade at Londonderry High School
in Londonderry, New Hampshire. I'm on the student council, I play Volleyball on
the school team, I play the saxophone in the Jazz Band and Marching Band,
I am on the Math team and I ski with my family at Ragged Mt. In Danbury, NH (My
dad is on the Ski Patrol there). Oh, and I love
to play Golf too. I love my
family and have lots of fun with my friends. Education is also very important to
me and soon I'll be looking into Colleges more. I will most likely be a science
major and a music minor.
Oh, and by the way, I have Celiac Disease .
As
you can see, being on a special diet and not being able to eat certain foods has
not slowed me down or kept me from being involved in all types of fun things. I
also go to Camp Celiac every summer, where I meet lots of kids with Celiac Disease. It
is a great place to feel “safe” about the food we eat, and just be kids. I
can’t wait to go back each year. When I was little and newly diagnosed I had the idea to start: The I Can't Eat "THAT" Club" My
club is NOT just for kids with Celiac Disease however. It is for any child in
First Grade or above who must be on ANY TYPE OF SPECIAL DIET and for any other
children who wants to help support us by understanding that we are just kids,
and we want to have fun, regardless of our food related issues. We want everyone
to feel welcome! I
know the whole world is not going to stop eating Pizza because I cannot have
Gluten (wheat), but
people can become aware enough about our issues to help us to not feel so
different when we go places. Learn not to say things that hurt our feelings or
are just plain dumb, or dangerous. There is also a great safety concern with
well meaning people who do not understand that ONE “special treat” or slip
up can be very dangerous. I am very interested in helping to raise awareness of
food related issues. My
family and I have come up with many great ways to work with my issues, allowing
me to be involved in many things and not miss out on the non-food part of
everyday things. We believe that ATTITUDE has a lot to do with how hard things
are for us on a day-to-day basis and especially at special event, such as
Birthday parties and school functions that involve eating. One example is the
box that my club put in our principle’s office (full of non-food treats), for
teachers to come to take for their students who have restricted diets when
passing out food treats to the class. And a letter we sent to all the teachers
in our school reminding them to think about non-food rewards from time to time.
Food is everywhere, but does not need to be the center of attention all the time
and I am hoping to help others understand this, regardless of whether they need
to be on a special diet or not. Sure, it is hard at times, but the alternative for me is being very very sick again. Too sick to even play sports, like the year I had to take off after my diagnosis(age 7). I’m not going there again! This is when I started to take Piano lessons. See, my ATTITUDE was, if I cannot play sports, what else could I do? Prior to diagnosis, the Gluten was destroying the part of my digestive system, which absorbs the nutrients from foods I was eating. I was eating bucket loads of food each day, yet I had complete malnutrition (I had zero villi left in my small intestines-complete villi atrophy-) and severe osteoporosis that my back was starting to deform slightly and the doctors were concerned that my bones would start to break. They were right, I broke each arm one year apart when I was in middle school. If my mother had not have pushed the doctors for more
testing, stating that she knew that my being so skinny was not because of a fast
metabolism, I would not be here today to write this letter.
So, now I stay on my special diet, I am feeling great and the doctors say
I am very healthy. I
hope to help other kids start, The I Can’t Eat “THAT” Club in their town.
I hope to share some of the things we have done in our club, at home and at
school, to make things “safe” and easier for me and others to have fun and
not miss out on life because of our food restrictions. I've worked with the American Celiac Task Force, The Celiac Disease Foundation and others to help raise awareness of Celiac Disease. I hope all kids will learn to understand that KIDS can make a difference. Look for my Eagle Scout Project on www.Celiac.org this summer! BE GOOD AND GLUTEN FREE Max
Jake Renke (April 2009)
Hi, I'm Jake! I'm 14 years old and I'm in the 9th grade at Londonderry High School in Londonderry, New Hampshire. I am on the school lacrosse team this spring. I play drums in a garage band and we hope to have a few "gigs" soon. I'm also in the drumline at my high school and I just auditioned and made the Jazz Band for next year at LHS. I also love to snowboard at Ragged Mt. where my Dad Ski Patrols. I have great friends too. Oh, and by the way...I have Celiac Disease. As you can see,
being on a special diet and not being able to eat certain foods has not slowed
me down or kept me from being involved in all types of fun things. I also go to Camp Celiac
every summer, where I meet lots of kids with Celiac Disease. It
is a great place to feel “safe” about the food we eat, and just be kids. I
can’t wait to go back each year. My diagnosis of Celiac Disease(at age 5) was much easier than my brothers. Actually...Max's diagnosis actually saved me from ever getting as sick as he did. One week after Max was diagnosed our whole family was tested and mine was positive. I was actually having behavior symptoms from the Gluten, because 5 days after the gluten was taken out of my diet, my behavior started to change and continued to change for the better for the next year. Prior to diagnosis...I was super hyper, grouchy and a super picky eater...gluten and milk were basically all I ate. I also had trouble in first grade staying on task and doing schoolwork or homework. The doctors told my parents to put me on RITALIN back then. (They never did.) After my diagnosis of Celiac Disease and going GLUTEN FREE.........my hyperness had basically disappeared. Today, I'm in college prep classes at my high school and thinking about what college I'd like to go to. I'm thinking about being a music major, but really I have no idea. If my brother had not have been diagnosed and "ALL" family members need to be tested because Celiac Disease is hereditary, who knows what my life would have been like. Being Celiac is harder for me than my brother. Max lived in pain (although he didn't really know that at the time) and was tired and weak all the time and felt horrible. So when he was diagnosed he felt better and views Gluten as poison and really doesn't think about it much and would never think about cheating. Me...I want to cheat all the time. I miss Dominoes Pizza for example and every time I see a Dominoes box I want to scream. I don't...I just remind myself that one crumb of Gluten can do damage to my small intestine and leave me open for other illnesses and mal-absorption problems and health risks. It isn't easy. But...I'm clean. NO GLUTEN. Attitude helps a lot. Making sure I bring food with me so I'm not hungry helps too. Or eating before I go somewhere. Food isn't about friendship or FUN~ Camp Celiac is a perfect example of this. It is a BLAST! Every year I look forward to going and do not want to leave at weeks end. I have made great friends there from all over the country.(YO....BRADLEY!!!) I hope to go back as a camp counselor when I'm aged out. It will be nice to "give back" to a camp that really has made a huge difference in my life. I want to help others learn that living Gluten Free isn't the end of the world. Be who you are going to be regardless of your food restricted diet. BE GOOD AND GLUTEN FREE Jake
MomHi, I’m MOM, no need to call me Laurie, mom is just fine. God has blessed me with two wonderful children to share with my wonderful husband and somehow I am getting the feeling that I will soon be sharing them with all of you who visit this website. I am happy to do just that. They truly want to help others while they help themselves overcome the burdens of their issues. They both make me very proud. The last few years have been more of an education about children, behavior, nutrition, disabilities, society, friendship, love and strength than I could have ever imagined. My college education was a wonderful thing, but nothing compared to my life experience of being a parent to children with health problems. Of course my motivation to learn, research and put into practice what I have learned is on a much higher level because of my love for my children. I am a different person because of the pain and sadness my boys have suffered in their short lives. I am happy to say that they are learning to overcome the sadness and turn their pain into positive things that help themselves and others like them. Other than being Gluten Free, they are two typical teenagers and are thriving. I am proud of their willingness to help others learn about Celiac Disease. Their attitudes towards life keeps me going, keeps me on track and motivates me to help them make their dreams come true. They are so positive! I really think that has been the key. God’s hand is supporting me while I help my children attempt to help educate the world. Their dreams have become our family’s dreams too and we hope we can help, even in a small way to make the road of diagnosis and treatment of Celiac Disease a little easier for others. Those who know me know I dream big. That is also what I am teaching Max and Jake to do. So how could I refuse to help them start a company(non-profit) to help raise awareness of the problems that they deal with in their lives? I couldn’t. So begins: “THAT” Kids’ Company Home to: The I Can’t Eat “THAT” Club, The GLUTEN Detectives, I like Birthdays…. Children’s Book about SPD(Sensory Processing Disorder)
Here we go!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing the ride. GOD BLESS, Laurie Renke
DadWhat can I say....? These people I live with can't help themselves but help others. I am very proud of my boys and hope other families will not have to endure what we did way back when. Cheaper Gluten Free food would be amazing...I am confident that in time, as more and more people are diagnosed (the numbers are huge) the costs will go down. Supply and Demand laws exist. -Chris
We hope to become sponsors of research and awareness issues. |
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Contact us at: info@thatkidscompany.com
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***"THAT"
Kids' Company***
