My name is Andrew Belliveau and I am the creator and founder of the Gastroparesis Pie Face Challenge. Gastroparesis is something very near and dear to my heart as I was diagnosed with the disorder at age 10. In short, Gastroparesis is a motility that disorder that causes your stomach to become paralyzed meaning you cannot eat, digest or absorb nutrients. Although it affects millions, the condition is widely unheard of. To make matters worse, there is no known cure and few effective treatment options available for those diagnosed. Personally speaking, my main symptoms were constant nausea, frequent vomiting (10-15 times per day), malnutrition, and severe weight fluctuations for years. Needless to say, my quality of life was pretty much non-existent. However, I was determined to continue on with my life the best I could. I often felt isolated because no one understood what I was going through. I rarely went out in public because I was so scared I would have to vomit and not know where the nearest restroom was. I couldn’t fully partake in social gatherings like holidays, dinning out, and parties because they tend to always revolve around food. In essence, life with Gastroparesis was mentally and physically draining. Luckily, in 2012, I received a gastric stimulator which works like a pacemaker for your stomach. However, the success rate of the device varies from patient to patient. Hence, there is still no known cure for Gastroparesis. Since I was extremely lucky to respond to the stimulator as well as I have, I decided to set out on a quest to raise awareness for Gastroparesis and hopefully, fund a cure. With inspiration from the Frates family and their work for ALS, I launched the Gastroparesis Pie Face Challenge on July 26, 2016. It took a while for the challenge to get off and running but once MLB pitcher David Price accepted my nomination, the challenge quickly caught fire. Since 2016, pies have been thrown across the globe by professional athletes from the MLB, NFL, and NHL celebrities, media personalities and plenty of GP warriors. Additionally, the challenge has even caught the attention of national media outlets like ESPN, People, Inside Edition, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated and even politicians. Most importantly however, over $12,000 has been raised for G-PACT, a non-profit working to support those with GP in addition to bringing hope to people who thought they were fighting alone. Bit-pie-bit, this once invisible condition, is slowly becoming noticeable. I encourage everyone to participate/donate and have fun with the challenge! Make sure to check out our celebrity participants as well as some of the most creative/funny pie faces! The rules are as followed:
1) Record yourself smashing a cream pie into your face
2) Challenge as many of your friends as you would like
3) Post your video on your personal social media accounts and on the official challenge page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gastroparesispiefacechallenge/ or Twitter/Instagram “”
4) Donate $1 to G-PACT, a non profit organization that helps Gastroparesis patients and conducts research on the condition. *(See information on how to donate below)
5) Have Fun and be creative!!! Donating to G-PACT: To donate to GPACT please follow this link https://www.g-pact.org . Once you are at G-PACT’s homepage hit the donate tab located in the top right hand corner. Questions? email me, Andrew, at [email protected]
Merch Link: https://www.zazzle.com/gp_pie_face
