The Story

The first time food almost killed me, I was little. It was an end-of-school party, and someone handed me a cookie with peanut butter in it. We didn't use the EpiPen. My parents just drove. I threw up in my car seat the whole way to the hospital, scared, not understanding what was happening to my own body.

That car seat sat in our basement for months afterward. Every time I walked past it, I was right back in the car. That is what a food allergy really is. It is not a list of foods. It is the car seat in the basement.

One in 13 kids in America knows that feeling. Two in every classroom. We read every label. We sit out the pizza party. We carry two EpiPens everywhere and hope we never need them.

Four summers ago, I found a paddleboard. I fell off a lot! But a paddleboard is the one place where falling is just part of it. You go in the water, you climb back on, you stand up again. Out there, there are no labels, no menus, no ingredient lists. Just me and my balance.

So I am taking that feeling and making it 845 people big.

On Saturday, June 12, 2027, Stand Up to Food Allergies aims to bring 845 paddleboarders to Minneapolis Lake of the Isles for a world record attempt. The record is 844. Launch is 8:30 a.m. Central, and the weather backup is Sunday, June 13, 2027. Every dollar goes to kids with food allergies, through Children's Minnesota, FARE and its Teal Pumpkin Project, and the Southern California Food Allergy Institute. So the next 8-year-old reading a label in a lunchroom knows a whole city is standing up with them.

You don't have to paddle to be part of this. You just have to stand up with us.

Registering is paying here. That's it. $25 registers one paddler with your own board, and $75 registers one paddler who needs to borrow one. Registering a family or a group? Pick the amount that covers everyone and tell us how many are paddling. Just giving? Choose 0 paddlers. Checkout asks for your email and phone and one required box for event updates. That's how we reach you about board numbers, parking, launch spots, weather calls and the waiver.

Hudson, 14, founder

Register or give

First goal: 200 boards, $5,000, by GivingTuesday, December 1. Then 845.

Every $25 registers one paddler with their own board. Every dollar goes to kids with food allergies.

$25 Register 1 paddler with your own board
$50 Register 2 paddlers with your own boards
$75 Register 1 paddler and borrow a board (limited)
$100 Register 4 paddlers with your own boards
$250 Register a pod of 10 with your own boards
$500 Register a pod of 10 and give $250 more
$1,000 Give $1,000 for kids with food allergies
Any amount Every $25 registers one paddler with their own board

Where your money goes

Hudson picked Children's Minnesota, FARE and its Teal Pumpkin Project, and the Southern California Food Allergy Institute. Every dollar raised goes to kids with food allergies through them. Givebutter charges this campaign no fees, and we will publish every dollar after the event.

Where things stand today: Stand Up to Food Allergies is a family-run effort led by Hudson, 14, and his parents, and it is not a nonprofit. We are lining up a nonprofit partner to hold the money so gifts can be tax-deductible, and we have asked each charity Hudson picked to confirm. Until that is in place, payments are not tax-deductible, and we will post the news here the day it changes. Event costs are paid separately by the family's business, so every dollar raised goes to the charities. Changed your mind? Email hudsonklein2031@gmail.com any time before June 27, 2027 and we'll refund your payment.

Stand Up To Food Allergies

845 boards. One world record attempt.