This year’s Celiac Strong Day brought students, families, educators, and communities together across the country to raise awareness for celiac disease and create more inclusive, supportive school environments.
From student-led presentations and classroom discussions to sharing gluten-free snacks and awareness activities, participants found creative and impactful ways to celebrate their day. Students shared their personal experiences, classmates asked thoughtful questions, and schools embraced the opportunity to learn more about celiac disease and how to better support students who live with it every day.
Celiac Strong Across the Country
From coast to coast, schools and communities came together for Celiac Strong Day. Our Celiac Strong participation map showcased just how far the impact reached this year, highlighting participating schools and districts across the country. While the map highlights participation by state, many states had multiple schools and districts join the movement to raise awareness and support students with celiac disease.
Empowering Students Through Awareness
At its heart, Celiac Strong Day is about empowering children with celiac disease to feel confident sharing their stories and advocating for themselves. “Advocating for yourself is an essential, lifelong skill when you have celiac disease,” said Emma Kowzun, Foundation Senior Education & Community Engagement Coordinator. “It’s an honor to provide these resources to students that I wish I had when I was first diagnosed, and it means a lot to play a small part in setting them up for success as they learn to live well with celiac disease.”
One parent shared, “It was such a special day … to be able to share his journey … and to watch his growth and confidence as someone living in the world with celiac disease every day, and thriving doing it!’”
Many families also shared how meaningful it was to watch their children feel empowered to speak openly about their experiences with celiac disease, educate their classmates, and grow in confidence throughout the day.
By encouraging open dialogue and awareness, Celiac Strong Day continues to help students feel seen, supported, and proud of who they are.
Fundraising Challenge Success
For the first time, this year also featured our Celiac Strong Day Fundraising Challenge, where participants went above and beyond to raise funds in support of celiac disease awareness, education, advocacy, and research. We were so inspired by the enthusiasm and creativity of everyone who participated.
A special congratulations to our top fundraisers, who received gluten-free snacks generously provided by proud sponsor Crunchmaster. Thank you to Crunchmaster for helping us celebrate and reward the incredible efforts of our participants!
Looking Ahead
This year’s Celiac Strong Day demonstrated just how powerful awareness and community can be. With classrooms participating across the country and so many students, educators, and families reached, the momentum continues to inspire the celiac disease community each year.
We are so thankful to everyone who participated, shared their stories, supported the fundraising challenge, and helped spread awareness about celiac disease in their schools and communities.
We can’t wait to see what next year brings!
Celiac Strong Day Highlights
Here are just a few of the incredible moments captured during Celiac Strong Day 2026:
