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All About US !Our CompanyMaxJakeMomDadOur CompanyHere are some of our goals for:
Here are some of our goals for:
If
you are able to help us with any of the above goals please contact my mother at
E-mail address: ourmom @thatkidscompany.com
Or Snail us at the address below! Thank
you for your time to read my story and learn about our club. Have
a great day and please try to remember that ATTITUDE is the key! God
Bless, Max
and Jake Renke “THAT”
Kids’ Company PO
BOX 1070 Londonderry,
NH 03053-1070
Max Renke (July 2001)
Hi,
I’m Max! I am 13 years old and I am in the 8th grade at the Middle School in Londonderry, New Hampshire. I am a Boy Scout in Troop 109
(I'm going to Boy Scout Camp this summer), I play the saxaphone, piano, I play
soccer and baseball, and I ski with my family at Ragged Mt. In Danbury, NH (My
dad is on the Ski Patrol there, that’s cool), and my favorite things are
collections, drawing, and I love to invent things (I have gone to Camp Invention
for two years now). I love my
family and have lots of fun with my friends. My best friends name is Ethan,
besides my brother Jake that is! Oh, and by the way, I have Celiac Disease (In
short I can not eat GLUTEN, not even a crumb) and I started a club called; The I
Can’t Eat “THAT” Club for kids like me. 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
even went to Camp Celiac 2000 where I met lots of kids with Celiac Disease. It
was a great place to feel “safe” about the food we ate, and just be kids. I
can’t wait to go back next year. 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! Our
first club meeting was in September of 2000 and it was a great day to meet each
other and learn about what different diets (or the same) we were all required to
be on to be healthy. We played games and made friends. It was a lot of fun! In
October 2000 we had our first “Candy-Free” Halloween Party. NO FOOD ALLOWED!
But we didn’t miss it one bit. We learned that Halloween is not just about the
Candy; much more goes into making it fun! I was a Robot, I Invented my costume
myself. We played games and had many treats (non-food treats of course). We even
decided that this was better because we were able to have the toys and stuff for
more than just one night! Our 2nd Annual “Candy-Free” Halloween
Party will be soon, I can’t wait. I will be Inspector Gadget this year; he
likes to make all types of inventions too! Remember I told you that I don’t
let my food issues stop me from having fun? I
know the whole world is not going to stop eating Pizza because I cannot have
Gluten (wheat) or Cheese (Because of the damage my undiagnosed Celiac Disease
caused in my small intestine, I can not have any milk products either). 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 soccer, like the year I had to take off after my
diagnosis. I’m not going there again! 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)
and severe osteoporosis that my back was starting to deform slightly and the
doctors were concerned that my bones would start to break if I played sports.
This is when I started to take Piano lessons. See, my ATTITUDE was, if I cannot
play sports, what else could I do? 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 hope some of my ideas are helpful to other people. Max Jake Renke May(2001)
Hi, I’m Jake and I'm 12 years old. I am in the 7th Grade at the Middle School in Londonderry, New Hampshire. 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. Their attitudes towards life keeps me going, keeps me on track and motivates me to help them make their dreams come true. 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 and SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) 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 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 and more. Here we go!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing the ride. GOD BLESS, Laurie Renke
DadInformation about Dad Coming Soon!!!
We hope to become sponsors of research and awareness issues. |
***"THAT"
Kids' Company***
