The Love for Giovanni Foundation
Food Allergy Awareness, Education, Safety
About
The Love for Giovanni Foundation was created in memory of Giovanni Cipriano. Giovanni was born on August 18, 1999 and gained his angel wings on October 18, 2013 when he unfortunately lost the fight of food allergies.
He was such a beautiful boy. So loving, caring, helpful. Loved life. He is so very much missed by all. His sister is all alone without him. His friends loved him so much.The one thing that is consistent when they speak of him is how beautiful his smile was, how he was so happy, always goofing off, making everyone laugh; he knew if you were having a bad day he would ask if you were ok and find a way to make you feel better.He was a star athlete. He was a best friend, great cousin, Uncle. He was the best brother. He was my little boy, my little man. He took care of me, and I took care of him. He was my friend, my partner. He was the reason I did EVERYTHING I did. He was his dad’s pride and joy. To say his dad is lost without him is an understatement.He was an honor student. He knew to be helpful, to be of service, to be respectful. He knew how to seize the day and run with it.Giovanni’s loss is felt not just here in our family, in our community, but all over the country. Giovanni’s loss is awful, it is heart wrenching, it doesn’t make sense. If it has taught us one thing, it is that we know we don’t want anyone to ever have to feel the pain that we feel.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide support to all those affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis.We aim to help educate families, caregivers, educators, nurses/physicians and communities regarding the seriousness of food allergies, as well as the importance of always having epinephrine injectors, working diligently to increase their availability in public places.Our goal is to create a global awareness of life threatening food allergies in hopes of preventing another death due to anaphylaxis.
Education
The hard truth:
Food Allergies affect approximately more than 32 million Americans. 6 million of which are children. 220 Million people are affected globally.
220 Million people are affected globally. Every 2-3 minutes there is an ER visit due to food induced Anaphylaxis.
These numbers continue to rise. There is no cure for food allergies. Only strict avoidance and education can prevent an allergic reaction.
Our aim is:
Through our educational services we hope to provide parents, schools, community centers, etc. with important information and resources on how to properly manage food allergies, how to notice a reaction, how and when to treat a reaction and most importantly how and when to use the life saving medication Epinephrine.
Support Group
We are a FAACT recognized support group (FoodAllergyAwareness.org)
Through The Love for Giovanni Foundation we have started the FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS food allergy support group. Our mission is to help promote awareness and education and to support all those in the food allergy community through group meetings, play dates, kid friendly events , etc.
Follow us on Facebook by clicking the button below to stay up to date.
Donations are also greatly appreciated.
Our Footprint in Action
On may 5, 2016, Giovanni's mom made her way to the state capital to share Giovanni's story in hopes that it would help push legislation towards passing a bill that would enable public entities to stock epinephrine injectors.On Sept. 30, 2016 that bill (EATA, S6800 Hannon, A9357 Abinanti) called the Emergency Allergy Treatment Act became a law and was signed by Governor Cuomo.Hard work and perseverance pays off.
Gio's Law
June 18, 2018 Gio's Law became a bill. Gio's Law authorizes emergency responders to carry and administer life-saving epinephrine by use of epinephrine auto-injector device (AEI)Assemblywoman Melissa Miller (Long Island) was the first legislator that actually helped write the bill with me. Senator Julie Salazar and Assemblywoman Linda Rosental (Manhattan) sponsored the bill.On December 12, 2019, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed "Gio's Law" This will undoubtedly save lives. Our police officers and fire fighters are most often the first to respond to the scene when someone calls 911 due to a life-threatening allergic reaction. It only makes sense to enable first responders to carry Epipens and help saves lives!
Georgina Cornago Cipriano, founder of the Love for Giovanni Foundation and the Friends Helping Friends Support Group, has been a passionate advocate and educator since losing her son, Giovanni, to an anaphylactic reaction in 2013. Georgina is committed to raising awareness both locally and globally by providing critical knowledge that she and her family were not afforded.Through support meetings, social media and family-friendly events, Georgina has provided awareness and education reaching parents, school-aged children and teens. In her continued efforts to bring food allergy awareness to the forefront, Georgina has become an active lobbyist working on legislation that requires epinephrine injectors to be available in public places, the Allergy Awareness Sign in Playgrounds and Parks law, which brings awareness to others using such facilities about cross contamination and responsible food allergy hygiene, and most recently a bill named after her late son, titled Gio’s Law, which will require that members of all emergency service providers be trained in the administration of emergency anaphylaxis treatment and to carry emergency anaphylaxis treatment in their vehicles in the State of New York.Additionally, as the outreach coordinator and presenter at Safe4Kids, Georgina visits with childcare providers training them on how to react during a food allergy emergency. Georgina has made it her life’s work to educate food allergy families so they should not experience the tragedy that has befallen hers.Although her days are filled helping others in the food allergy community, when she is not working, Georgina loves spending time with her beautiful daughter, exploring the latest pop-up museums, trying new food spots or binge-watching Netflix.
Make a donation, Spread awareness
Our Non-Profit Organization depends solely on the generosity of benefactors like you to keep our programs and events running.
We rely on substantial aid from generous people like yourself who care to make a difference.
Thank you for helping us raise funds, every cent you decide to contribute makes a big difference in providing a safer, happier, less stressful environment for those living with food allergies and their families.
Contact
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, donations, or would like to work with us!
21 Oak Street
Lynbrook, NY 11563
516-404-1123
[email protected]
