The Walk to Cure Juvenile Diabetes will be held again this year at Centennial Olympic Park on October 16th. For registration, please visit the JDRF website:
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We are so proud of these kids. With the help of their families and friends in 2009, their school team, Holy Innocents' Episcopal School, raised more than $30,000 during the Walk for the Cure! We sure hope we can help them meet their ambitious goals again this year!
You may wonder why we're so involved in this cause. One of our models for our frame sale is Kaki Bennett. Below is a letter from Kaki with her story. We hope that by publishing this letter, we can encourage many others to join the Walk to Cure Diabetes, and sign up for this fun and worthy cause that will be taking place on Saturday October 16th, at Centennial Park Atlanta. For more information, visit www.jdrf.org.
Dear Friends:
On October 21, 1996, I was diagnosed with type I (juvenile) diabetes at my four year old well check up.On that day, my life changed forever.
The most immediate issue was learning to deal with the intense, day to day regimen diabetes requires.On average, I make a decision related to my diabetes care every hour and a half.For example, I check my blood sugar by pricking my finger ten to twelve times a day and take insulin to cover every bite of food I eat.My insulin is delivered through an insulin pump, which looks like a beeper, and is connected to my body 24/7 by an implanted tube that must be changed every three days.If I take a walk, exercise, or even eat at a different time, I need to adjust my insulin.If my blood sugar is high or low, I must decide how to treat it.Both low and high blood sugar can be life threatening.
In addition to the constant vigilance that is required to manage diabetes, it can cause blindness, kidney and nerve damage, comas and a host of other problems.I am well aware that the life span of a person with diabetes is shortened by fifteen years.
That’s the bad news.The good news is that a device called an artificial pancreas that reads blood sugars and delivers insulin, without human intervention, is close at hand.The device works by implanting a continuous glucose sensor under the skin and then continually transmitting blood sugar readings to a monitor.Those results are then sent to a computer that can calculate the right amount of insulin needed and deliver it instantly to a patient wearing a pump.The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (“JDRF”) is supporting this research through its Artificial Pancreas Project.That is why I am participating in JDRF’s annual Walk to Cure Diabetes on October 16th, 2010 in Atlanta.
The purpose of this letter is to request your support in the form of a contribution in whatever amount you care to give.Your contribution is tax deductible and may be made by check payable to JDRF.I am enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope for your convenience so that I may turn in any contributions to my walk team, which I am co-chairing. Thank you for your support.Together, we can improve the quality of life for all persons with diabetes.
