"Bubbly and sassy," is how Lene Rodriguez describes her two-year-old daughter, Blake. But a year ago the Rodriguez family received a medical diagnosis for Blake that sent them on an unknown journey.

"[Around] this time last year we were coming back from vacation. She got sick with a fever, so we had taken her to her pediatrician," Rodriguez says. At the same time, they began to notice Blakes' hair was falling out. "We thought maybe we had put her hair up in a ponytail too often."

The doctors did blood work and diagnosed Blake with alopecia areata. "I didn't even know what it was . . . I was nervous and scared because I didn't know what the outcome would be for Blake in the long run. Especially when there are no resources available for her. I really didn't know what to do." That's where Jared Nicholls comes in.

Nicholls is on the board of the Canadian Alopecia Areata Foundation (CANAAF). He explains that alopecia "is an auto-immune disease that mainly affects the hair follicles, all over the body . . . Basically what it is, is your immune system attacks the hair follicle - the ball that holds the hair in place - attacks that, it disappears, and the hair falls out."

Rodriguez discovered CANAAF shortly after Blake's diagnosis. "I did my own research. Obviously, as a mom, I would just get right on it and find out what is happening to my child."

CANAAF has become a place for Rodriguez to find support from other parents. "I find that it's harder for the parents to deal with it, than it actually is for the child." That's something that Nicholls also found to be true when he was first diagnosed as an adolescent. "I adjusted pretty quickly, but my parents had a difficult time," he says.

CANAAF works to provide support for those affected by alopecia areata, promotes awareness and education of the autoimmune disease and raises funds for research.

Rodgriguez is putting on the Family Expo & Kids Fair, Sunday May 21, at Holiday Inn Polo Park. All proceeds will be going towards CANAAF.