The Asthma and Allergy Foundation, St. Louis Chapter (AAFA) was founded by two St. Louis doctors, Dr. Raymond Slavin and Dr. Phillip Korenblat and Marilyn Horst, a Medical Social Worker at SSM Cardinal Glennon. These individuals saw a tremendous need in the St. Louis community for an organization that could provide disadvantaged children with life-saving asthma and allergy medications, equipment, education and support. They set their goals high and on November 1st, 1981 Project Concern, AAFA’s unique medical assistance program, was born.
More than twenty-five years later, AAFA is still going strong, carrying on the mission of its Founders. Through Project Concern, hundreds of low-income children are provided with medications like epinephrine and albuterol, and medical equipment such as spacers, mattress and pillow covers, and nebulizers. By providing children with these life-saving tools, they are staying out the emergency room, and in school—right where they need to be to become the leaders of tomorrow.
Additionally, AAFA has become a recognized asthma and allergy resource for the St. Louis community. AAFA serves thousands of parents, children, teachers, day-care providers, nurses and doctors each year with presentations on asthma and allergy management, and education on the nuances of food allergies. AAFA is proud to be a leading source of information on these diseases for a community that is constantly at risk.
