We are grateful to NBC and TODAY Show Anchor Dylan Dreyer who helped shine a light on Celiac Disease and Jax's advocacy to require the labeling of Gluten in the U.S., just like Gluten must be declared on all food labels in 87 other countries.
Some Inside Baseball
Dylan began the story: "We're back now with a story that hits close to home for my family!"
As Dylan's live intro faded and the pre-recorded segment started with Jax and Dylan's 7-year-old son Calvin, we sat on the sofa looking at Dylan and her TODAY Show co-anchors Sheinelle Jones and Craig Melvin. While I was awaiting the start of our live interview, I could see the emotion in Dylan's face as tears welled-up in her eyes while Calvin's segment from 2023 played.
As fellow Celiac parents, Leslie and I looked at each other, and we could feel that deep connection with Dylan. We also felt the tears well in our eyes watching Dylan, and then somehow we all pulled it together for the start of the live interview.
"As a mom of a child with Celiac, thinking about food and what's safe to eat is a full time job! Enter Jax Bari…a young boy who reached out to Calvin with a handwritten note cheering him on and doing what he can to raise awareness and make labels easier to read in the US, like it's done in 87 other countries." -- Dylan Dreyer
"Eat without fear. I think that a lot of people take that for granted... But honestly today, hearing you say what happened just with a crumb of Gluten, it was eye opening!" --Sheinelle Jones
"There is so much thought that goes into every bite of food that goes into his mouth. There's so much preparation. You can never relax. It's absolutely exhausting. There's never a break. There's never a moment of relief." -- Leslie Bari
Since 2018, we have navigated our Celiac journey by finding and building community with others who share similar life experiences. To that end, we are grateful that Jax and Calvin were able to connect and get to know each other. It all started with Jax's handwritten letter to Calvin when Jax wrote, "I admire your courage in sharing your Celiac story." Here's the original story from 5/24/23 that about Calvin's Celiac diagnosis.
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