eet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Mia Fritsch-Anderson. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Mia Fritsch-Anderson remembers what it’s like to be afraid to use her inhaler in front of other people as a child. Growing up, Mia would avoid using her inhaler at dance competitions or in gym class because the other kids would make fun of her. Now a college student, she’s helping kids and teens shake off the stigma of asthma.
In 2020, Mia read a study that said that fewer than 25% of kids take their medication in front of their peers, even if they’re having a life-threatening asthma attack. In that moment, she knew it was time to take action. She founded Choose to Breathe, which focuses on decreasing the stigma of asthma and increasing inhaler compliance in children and teens.
Choose to Breathe uses a three-point approach to destigmatize asthma. First, Mia creates fun inhaler covers, so people don’t feel they’re being looked at while taking their inhaler. Then, she creates educational content across social media platforms, knowing that focusing on digital is a great way to engage with kids and teens. Finally, she promotes a positive peer media campaign called #choosetobreathe, which pulls in followers and engagement. In 2020, she started with only 200 followers and a few videos. Since then, Choose to Breathe has produced over 500 educational videos, 40,000 followers, and millions of views across platforms. The organization also distributes thousands of inhaler covers across the world.
Mia is currently in her senior year at Illinois Institute of Technology, where she’s studying mechanical engineering. While that’s a heavy workload while running her own organization, Mia feels the balance is important to her because she’s so passionate about the cause. In the future, she hopes to grow Choose to Breathe even more. She’s already partnered with some high-profile organizations and is working on some new partnerships right now. Her dedication to fighting the stigma of asthma shows that a personal connection to a cause can be the taproot that a thriving organization grows from.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
I grew up volunteering with a lot of different respiratory health organizations, specifically the Respiratory Health Association here in Chicago. I started volunteering with them when I was four, but I’ve been lobbying with them for a while. During COVID, I noticed that nobody was really doing anything about the stigma of asthma. A lot of people would make fun of me for taking my inhaler at dance competitions or even at school and gym class, and that was something that I really wanted to change. What really started it is when I read a study in 2020 that said that fewer than 25% of kids take their medication in front of their peers, even if they’re having a life-threatening asthma attack. I just thought that statistic was staggering, and it really encouraged me to start what I’ve been doing.
What inspires you to volunteer?
A lot of it comes from the fact that my parents took me to volunteer from a very young age, so I’m used to being around that. But also, I feel like it’s a really good way to be able to make change in the world, especially as a young person. I had a lot of people tell me growing up that I was never actually going to be able to make change, and that really inspired me to keep going.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Choose to Breathe.
A lot of the work that I do is on social media. Typically, it’s probably a video or a TikTok post. The reason that I work heavily on social media is that my main audience is kids and teens, and social media is a great way to reach them. I try to post something every single day, or at least three to four times a week. Besides that, a lot of the time I’m making inhaler covers. Inhaler covers are just things that go on your inhaler; they make it feel less like a radical device, make it a little bit more fun, and I donate them to organizations throughout the nation. I’ve been very busy making a lot of them, especially over the summer, to send out before heading back to school.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
The most rewarding part is how the work that I’m doing makes someone feel more comfortable taking their inhaler. A lot of the time, I’ll have people reach out to me on social media with stories about how they feel more comfortable using their inhaler because they watched one of my videos. I’ve even had some school nurses reach out to me and tell me that they tell their students to watch my videos if they feel uncomfortable taking their inhaler.
What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?
It’s hard to pick just one thing that I’ve learned because there has been so much. I think one of the biggest things is that I’ve had the opportunity to be around a lot of other young people who are very passionate about what they’re doing and run different organizations. I was able to connect with other young women who are around the same age as me, doing very similar things, which is very exciting, and it keeps me motivated to see other young people doing these things. Not only for partnership purposes, but to learn from them. Because really, we can all learn from each other in this world and continue to grow together.
Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?
I think a lot of the time people don’t think they can make a big change, but I promise you, we can. I know when I started this, I didn’t think it was going to be much, and now it’s a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. So I think it’s important to even get involved at a small level because you never really know what impact you’re going to have. Also, it’s very rewarding when you do get to have an impact.
Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?
Google and other available search engines are your friend. There are so many organizations out there. If you’re looking for a specific organization, you can pretty much Google the cause that you care about and look up an organization or volunteer work, and something will pop up. Especially on social media, a lot of these organizations now are on social media, and they’re advertising that they’re looking for volunteers. Just reaching out is a great way to get involved.
What do you want people to learn from your story?
I want people to learn that they should feel comfortable being who they are. I grew up being very scared to use my inhaler in front of others because of other people’s opinions on it, and that’s why it’s so important to me to be able to change the narrative of what having asthma is. A lot of that stigma isn’t true. Just because you have asthma doesn’t mean you’re weak, and I want people to be able to take that not only for things like asthma, but for other things, because there are so many things that also apply.
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