Jim G.

Autoimmune Hepatitis

When I started my company, Deep River Snacks, I had my two goals: were to make a living to support my family, and to find a way to contribute to my community. Giving back has always been part of our ethos, and we started to put messaging about nonprofit causes that were important to our employees on our packages about 10 years ago.

But in 2010, when my son Meyer was 6, we found out our little guy was seriously ill. He had been having nosebleeds, a tender tummy and other symptoms. For months we kept taking him to doctors for a whole battery of tests. I was in an airport about to fly home when my wife called and told me the diagnosis. Meyer had an autoimmune liver disease. I had no understanding of liver disease.

I had no clue what it meant, and some days I feel like it’s still sinking in. Slowly I educated myself on it, with a lot of support from ALF. And I realized it was time to get serious about what I could do personally to tell the story of liver disease, and raise funds, and figure out how to save our kid.

So we started the Give A Chip Campaign to donate a portion of sales to ALF and to reach potentially more people with information about liver disease. The Educating people about liver disease and supporting ALF is one way that we live our motto: Because We Give a Chip. Give a Chip Campaign is our way of educating the public about liver disease while providing a way for folks to support research.

Some people just get a bad hand in life, and as a human being you need to be out there to help out. You have to give a chip. I love it when I get emails from people all over the country who read our packaging and reach out. Some are facing the same medical challenge.

Recently I heard from the father of a son who has the same disease as Meyer and this man’s other son was able to give a live liver transplant. It was incredibly moving. Meyer just loves dragons, so he has his own ALF Walk team called Meyer’s Dragons. They turn out every year to help raise money. Friends, family, colleagues, neighbors. They all walk.

It makes such a difference to know that you are not alone, so we do all we can to work with ALF to raise our voices and be there for others. At the end of the day, you have to try to give more than you get.