It’s hard for me to stomach my child being teased by another preschooler, let alone imagine watching her suffer from a terminal illness that could have been prevented. When Nancy Chuda’s daughter Colette was five years old, she had to say goodbye to her at funeral rather than seeing her off to her first day of kindergarten. Colette died from cancer linked to pesticide exposure.

Nancy, and her husband Jim, decided to turn their grief into action. In 1992, they launched Healthy Child, Healthy World. Over the past decade, Healthy Child has grown steadily as more and more parents – including me and the rest of the Milkshake staff - join the cause that hits home.

Scientific evidence links every day, household chemicals to diseases that include asthma, autism, cancer, allergies, and diabetes. Healthy Child’s main goal is to equip parents to create healthy environments for their families by reducing toxic exposures to ubiquitous chemicals.

That’s why I’m so excited to take part in Healthy Child’s Party Week designated May 5-12, 2012. They are looking for 500 people across the country to host a Healthy Child Party to raise awareness of how to protect our children’s health.

Want to get the party started? Healthy Child will help, by sending you a package that includes:

- A DVD explaining the 5 easy steps to take in your life to make it less toxic
- Samples of safe and wonderful products to give away to everyone at the party
- Ideas of how to make your own cleaning and care products
- Easy ways to advocate for our children

(The kit is $25.)

This is a fun and engaging way to have friends over with a purpose in mind. I’m throwing my own Milkshake Kids, Healthy Child Party in Detroit, MI on May 5 and Amy Jurkowitz, founder of Milkshake, is throwing her own in Greenwich, CT on May 8!

We would love to find 20 "Shakers" to host a party and we can share ideas, pictures and results to our committed and growing community. Click here to find out more and sign up to get your own party kit. We work with a lot of causes around the world and Healthy Child is a force to be reckoned with. They are organized, committed and run by moms on a mission.

Join their force—I have!

- Kristi Valentini
Editor, Milkshake Kids