Many people go through difficult experiences in life, inspiring some of them to help others who have faced similar challenges.
That includes Mountain View teen Dean Wu, who has endured severe food allergies. After going through the oral immunotherapy trial program at Stanford University’s Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research, Wu launched a fishing-tournament fundraiser to raise money for food allergy research there.
“I’m not immune, and my allergies are not cured or anything, but the trial allowed me to explore the things that I wanted to without having to worry about being super close to a hospital,” Wu said. “It was really nice to give back to the people who have supported me and changed my life by combining my passion for fishing and supporting the center at the same time.”
This year’s tournament, the second he’s organized, raised $5,600. The junior held it at Pardee Reservoir in the Sierra Nevada foothills Oct. 29.
While Wu was the primary organizer of the event, handling everything from figuring out the food plan to contacting potential sponsors, the center provided him with banners and flyers to promote the work they were doing.
“The first year, there were people who were, like, ‘My son has food allergies,’ or, ‘I know a friend who has food allergies,’ but then there wasn’t anything that I could give them,” Wu said. “(This time around), we had little flyers that they could take home, such as different precautions you can take if you know somebody who has food allergies.”
By organizing the event from the ground up, Wu said he learned how to interact more formally with the companies he was working with and how to draft effective emails.
“From the companies, I was asking them for something for free to give away, and they wouldn’t make any sort of profit off this at all,” he said. “I learned how to address people and be clear with what I’m saying and manage a big project that takes around a year to do normally. These people are so nice, and they’re totally willing to help me.”
In addition to giving back to the center, Wu had the opportunity to share his love for fishing. It’s a pastime Wu said he discovered after the allergy treatment program, when he felt more comfortable participating in activities away from a nearby hospital. From beginners to experts, Wu said he was glad to see the diversity of individuals interested in his tournament.
“If you go out on the water, there’s no one for miles and miles from where you are,” he said. “There’s the excitement when you can’t see where the fish are.
It’s almost addicting when you are trying to catch another fish, and it’s the feeling of tricking the fish into thinking that your plastic lure is actually something real.”
Anne Marie Milo, associate director of the community fundraising team at the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health (which raises money for the Parker Center), said supporting Wu was an incredibly positive experience, and he did a great job balancing creating an enjoyable event and raising awareness for a good cause.
“When somebody hosts a third-party fundraiser, it not only provides donations and funds so we can do incredible work and further our knowledge,” Milo said, “but also (raises) awareness of how allergies can really impact a person every day, especially if they’re really severe.”
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