Where it all began
This charity didn't begin in a boardroom. It began in waiting rooms, doctor visits, hospital visits, talking with friends, at birthday parties, sleepovers, trips to grandma's house — and in the quiet determination of a mama who refused to let the world stay small for her daughter who had big dreams.
Anaïs · Dune du Pilat, Bordeaux
Stephanie Chastan spent years navigating not just food allergies but also SIBO — another food-related condition that compounded Anaïs's challenges and deepened Stephanie's determination to find real treatment, not just avoidance.
One sun-drenched California morning, on a daily walk with her dear friend Denise — a woman who had seen SCFAI's results firsthand and understood Stephanie's dream of giving Anaïs a life of adventure — the conversation changed everything.
Stephanie found the Southern California Food Allergy Institute, joined the waitlist, and never looked back. What followed was years of twice-daily micro-dosing, careful monitoring, and a family transformed by the belief that treatment — not just avoidance — is possible.
Allez Anaïs is the organization she built from that belief: so that every family who needs it can find their way through, too.
The charitable mission — EpiPen access, safe food programs, treatment support for families who can't afford it — was Anaïs's idea. She looked at what her family had built around her and asked why every allergy kid didn't have the same.
That question is the whole foundation of what we're building together. (Anaïs's full voice is coming — we'll share her words directly as the campaign launches.)
Olivier Chastan, French by birth and shaped by the culinary soul of Cognac, became the family's kitchen alchemist — spending years adapting beloved French recipes into versions that were entirely safe for Anaïs without sacrificing a single gram of joy. His gluten-free crêpes, made with Cup4Cup flour, are — by all accounts — exceptional.
But the story starts earlier, with his mother Domi, Anaïs's cherished French grandmother, who was among the first to say oui to the challenge. Domi's legendary chocolate cake and her fragrant orange cake — deeply beloved family recipes — were lovingly reimagined allergen-safe, so Anaïs could sit at the same table and eat the same cake as everyone else.
Together, Olivier and his mother worked through the canon of beloved French cuisine, finding ways to preserve the quality, the richness, and the soul of each dish — proving that extraordinary food and food safety are not opposites. Their kitchen became a laboratory of love, and its results belong to every family that comes after them.
The Chastans have taken Anaïs across continents — navigating menus in three languages, building relationships with chefs from California to Morocco and beyond. But they know that no matter where you live, getting people to understand your situation and the severity of it is difficult.
The allergy journey looks different for every family. For some, it means international travel with a medical kit and restaurant cards in four languages. For others, it means handling a class birthday party, a church potluck, or a trip to the grocery store on a tight budget. All of it matters. All of it is hard. And all of it deserves support.
Allez Anaïs is building resources for every version of this life — travel guides and local dining cards, school allergy plans and community toolkits, recipes that work in any kitchen. Because the tools you need and the hurdles you encounter are global.