Champion NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes is looking to score a major win for food allergy empowerment through his charitable foundation.
Mahomes and his wife Brittany are parents of two children with food allergies. Brittany Mahomes has spoken out previously about their kids’ reactions and the importance of advocating to protect such children.
Now her husband, the three-time Super Bowl MVP, brings his voice – and influence – to the food allergy cause through his 15 and the Mahomies Foundation.
“I remember how scared I was, and how serious it felt,” Mahomes says, recalling his son’s frightening reaction as an infant. He spoke in a video that debuted at his foundation’s gala in Kansas City on October 28.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ leader announced at the gala that the foundation and the nonprofit FARE are partnering on the “15 and FARE” initiative.
The collaboration will bring the nonprofit’s public health program – called The FARE Neighborhoods Initiative – to Kansas City. This program provides access to healthcare, epinephrine and education to those managing food allergies who face health inequities.
The partnership will also involve FARE’s food allergy training for the city’s restaurants. As well, it covers food allergy education for school staff, community health workers and more.
“We teamed up with FARE … to support and empower everyone in our community with education, access to care and the resources patients need to confidently manage food allergies,” Mahomes, who wears the number 15, says in the video.
FARE CEO Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, sees the partnership as a victory. “I’m so grateful to the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation. I believe we’re going to change the lives of the food-allergic community in Kansas City,” she says.
Brittany Mahomes: Dedicated Advocate
“This isn’t just about awareness – it’s about being ready to act,” notes Brittany Mahomes. With the partnership, “we’re also empowering the Kansas City-area restaurants and community food banks with food allergy training through FARE.”
For Brittany Mahomes, who is co-owner of the Kansas City Current soccer team, the FARE partnership expands on work she has been doing for the food allergy cause.
FARE is recognizing her dedication. At the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation gala, Poblete presented Brittany with the FARE Champion Award.
Poblete praises Brittany Mahomes for using her celebrity status to help the food allergy community. “Brittany has been incredible as an ambassador for all of us,” Poblete says. Despite her profile, “she’s a typical food allergy mom: ‘I will fight for my child, I will fight for my community.’”
Brittany Mahomes also has partnered with allergy-related brands as part of her advocacy. She worked with the allergy-friendly protein shake brand OWYN on a joint $100,000 matching donation campaign in late 2023. The initiative raised more than $200,000 for FARE.
Then, she worked with kaléo, makers of the AUVI-Q auto-injector, to develop the Foodallergygameplan.com and promoted it in interviews. The website helps to raise awareness about the signs of a severe food allergy reaction in young children.
Now, the well-known allergy mom helped bring together the new partnership between the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation and FARE.
Mahomes: Food Allergies Hit Home
In FARE’s video announcing the food allergy initiative, the Mahomes speak about navigating food allergies with their young children. The couple, who are expecting a third child, have a daughter Sterling, 3, and son Patrick III (nicknamed Bronze), who is almost 2.
The new video marks the first time Patrick Mahomes has spoken publicly about his own experience as a food allergy dad. “It’s critical that every family has what they need. Food allergy reactions can happen anytime, anywhere,” he notes.
FARE cites statistics of 33 million people in the U.S. managing food allergies. In Missouri, the organization says more than 520,000 individuals are affected by the disease, including 104,000 children.
Hearing how Patrick Mahomes feels as a food allergy dad is something a lot of people can relate to, Poblete says.
The Mahomes’ profile and influence will help that message reach millions. On Instagram alone, the Super Bowl Champ’s Instagram has close to 7 million followers. His wife’s Instagram account, meantime, has over 2 million followers, and the foundation has a significant following as well.
FARE Neighborhoods Initiative
Of the Neighborhoods Initiative, Mahomes speaks in the video of the intiative providing food allergy resources, education and access to care. “We’re committed to creating communities where every child can thrive. He also emphasized “empowering entire communities to be ready to act to save a life.”
FARE will also collaborate with the restaurants, food banks and pantries in Kansas City to provide appropriate allergy training through the nonprofit’s Food Allergy Academy training program.
The nonprofit has not been able to provide food allergy training and education to restaurants in its other six FARE Neighborhoods. “The fact that we are putting a FARE Neighborhood in Kansas City with the Mahomes family is elevating the neighborhood [program] to another stratosphere,” Poblete says.
The FARE Neighborhoods Initiative launched in the South Ward of Newark, New Jersey in 2021. More patients are receiving proper diagnosis and treatment for food allergies since the program started, according to the nonprofit.
For example, 86 percent of families involved in FARE Neighborhoods reported visiting an allergist in the previous 12 months. That compared to 61 percent before the initiative. In that group, 89 percent received an epinephrine prescription, up from 51 percent at the program’s start.
FARE plans to step up the level of resources for “15 and FARE”. “Our goal is to make sure families here in Kansas City have access to the resources they need to manage food allergies confidently and safely,” Brittany Mahomes says in a statement.
Poblete says the Kansas City program can serve as an example for other cities, as well. “The rest of the country will benefit because this will be the model that will be utilized and continue to build,” she says.
Related Reading:
Brittany Mahomes Q&A: What I Want Food Allergy Moms to Know
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