You have no doubt heard that right now a better quality of life for all, and a cure, are within reach in our lifetime.  The revenue raised through the Walk to Cure Diabetes is a critical part of JDRF annual research funding.  We welcome you to join the Walk to Cure Diabetes and make a real difference in the lives of everyone living with diabetes.

1.  Two of the four great Walk venues are new this year.

• Sunday, October 3rd at California’s Great America in Santa Clara [NEW!].  Everyone that raises $100 or more will receive free park admission on Sunday, October 3rd only.
• Sunday, October 17th at Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove.  Everyone is dressing up in Halloween costumes to say Boo to Diabetes.
• Saturday, October 23rd at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco [NEW!].  Walking the Golden Gate Bridge is not just for tourists.
• Sunday, October 24th at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek.  An old favorite in the East Bay and the largest Bay Area walk site.

2.  Improve your business connections.  Expand your Rolodex.  Consider the companies that support the Bay Area Walk to Cure Diabetes and join the fun on Walk day.

Our global partner is Ford Motor Company and our national partners include, Advance Auto Parts, Marshalls, Delta, Walgreen’s and Old Orchard Healthy Balance.  Our local sponsors include, Abbott Diabetes Care, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMPS), Wells Fargo, Franklin Templeton, USS-POSCO Industries, Silvestri Vineyards, Bank of America, O’Melveny & Myers, XL Group, Welton Investments, Barclay’s Capital, Sequoia Healthcare District, AC3, Salinas Valley Memorial, Fireman’s Fund Insurance, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, CSP Technologies, Inc., RH Framing Harrod Brothers, Peer Music, Draeger’s, Pacific Service Credit Union, Chiquita Brands International, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Palo Alto Medical Foundation, PMI Group, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Comerica, Sybase, Earthbound Farms, Sangamo BioSciences, Reel Grobman, RR Donnelly Global Turnkey Solutions, Thelen, Chang & Nguyen, Bonelli Enterprises, Allstate Insurance, Computer Works, Carpet One, Symantec, Nativdad Medical Foundation , Chapman and Cutler, Oakland Athletics, Downtown Dining, Conklin Brothers, FishNet Security, Mangold Properties, KPMG, Sidley Austin LLP and Andrews Kurth LLP.

3.  Make new friends.

More than 6,000 men, women and children are expected at the 2010 Bay Area Walk to Cure Diabetes Bay sites.  That’s 6,000 people connected to the cause; forming a community and together helping to cure diabetes.  Of course, everyone is also walking, eating, listening to music, laughing, visiting community support groups and celebrating their collective success.

4. Think locally.

JDRF currently funds more than 20 unique research projects at UCSF and Stanford University.

How you can help:

If this convinced you, then register today.  Hurry!  The first Bay Area Walk in Silicon Valley is only four weeks off; the second walk in Monterey Bay is just six weeks away and the final walks in San Francisco and the East Bay are scheduled in eight weeks.

If this is just not your year to walk, there are several ways you can help and be part of the cure.

1. Donate to a friend, a family member or a co-worker who is registered for this year’s walk.  Your donation is tax deductible.
2. Increase awareness in your community by distributing posters and brochure stands in highly visible places.   We’ll send you the materials for free, just tell us what you want and where to send them.
   • Good idea: ask your doctor to display a Walk to Cure Diabetes poster or brochure stand in his/her waiting room.
3. Volunteer on Walk Day.  We always need volunteers to help with set up, provide directions, serve food, clean up, assist with registration, distribute t-shirts, assist with accounting and lots more.

Don’t miss the fun of Walk to Cure Diabetes.  For more information, visit our website, or send Katy Coe an e-mail or give her a call, 415.597.6318.

Applicants will be able to submit the application online via the Children’s Congress website and via mail. However, online submission are encourage to keep the process efficient.

To make the selection process as fair and efficient as possible, the volunteer selection committee will be given access to the aforementioned online application review module. This module will allow them to review and easily provide feedback online for applicants assigned to them.

About Children’s Congress

Every two years, JDRF International Chairman Mary Tyler Moore and over a hundred children with type 1 diabetes gather in Washington, D. C. to meet face-to-face with some of the top decision-makers in the U.S. government. The children, ages 4 to 17, represent all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As participants in JDRF’s Children’s Congress, they have a unique and empowering opportunity to help Members of Congress understand what life with type 1 diabetes is like and why research to find the cure for diabetes and its complications is so critical.

2009 Children

Event History

The JDRF Children’s Congress program was inspired by a boy from Massachusetts named Tommy Solo when he was 8 years old. He heard some adult JDRF volunteers talking about going to Washington, D.C., to talk to Congress and thought it would be great if kids could go, too, because no one knows better what it’s like to live with type 1 diabetes than kids who have it.

The group of volunteers thought it was a brilliant idea and quickly got to work developing the event, which was first held in 1999. Since then, six successful Children’s Congresses have occurred, one every other year (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007, 2009). Media coverage of the event–an integral key to its success–has grown with the event’s sophistication. In 2009, it received coverage in more than 300 media outlets throughout the country, including CBS’ The Early Show, People Magazine, The New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News Channel, Associated Press, NBC News, and Scholastic Magazine.

As if determining one’s own route from the start in Gangtok, Sikkim to finish in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan across the 2,000 mile adventure through jungle heat, dirt tracks, monsoon rains, and Himalayan peaks is not challenging enough, the chief mission of The Raiders of the Lost Tuc with this journey is to raise money and awareness for JDRF and also for Friends of Maiti Nepal.  To follow this extraordinary two week adventure race, just check out the Lost Tuc blog or to learn more visit the website.

Having surpassed their original fundraising goal of $5,000 for JDRF on August 27th, the trio has set a new goal for JDRF of $7,500.  You can make an online donation toward JDRF or you can mail a check to the following address,

Raiders of the Lost Tuk

1295 Beacon Street, Box 741

Brookline, MA 02446

If you have any questions, just send the team an email at LostTuk@gmail.com.  Well, until September 11th anyway.   One the race has started, will they have internet connections?

Nicky Williams and Congresswoman Eshoo

When it comes to fighting type 1 diabetes, JDRF’s strength lies in the numbers and the ability of Advocates to work together to build bonds–bonds with one another, as well as with Members of Congress.  These relationships strengthen our community, provide support for those who are living with type 1 diabetes, and deliver our message–the need for a cure–faster and more effectively.

Nicky taking Eshoo's glucose reading

As a JDRF Advocate, your personal story takes on added impact when you join forces with thousands of other Advocates across the country.  If you are not already registered as an Advocate, you can become one today.  Just a few minutes of your time each year will make a difference in this crucial effort.

Once you’ve registered as an Advocate, you can help Spread the Word and participate in other important JDRF advocacy programs.

Learn more about Advocacy here.

September 2, 2010

Dear Congresswoman Eshoo,

Hi!  My name is Nicky Williams and I am 10 years old.   Four months ago (May 1, 2010) I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

"Nicky" Mary Williams

During my first hospital stay I asked the doctor at Stanford’s Lucille Packard’s Hospital how to get rid of my Type 1 Diabetes.  The doctor told me that there is no cure but that some very smart people are working hard to find treatments and hopefully a cure.  I want to be one of those smart people who helps find a cure.  So, I now work really hard to raise money and awareness around Type 1 Diabetes.

I think you are one of those smart people.   You sponsor bills in Congress that allow for research and funding that helps fight diabetes.   You are a member of the Congressional Diabetes Caucaus that helps educate other grown-ups in Washington D.C. about Type 1 Diabetes.  You care about kids like me!

Together you and I can make an awesome team.  I can tell you all about what it is like to live with Type 1 Diabetes and I can help raise money to help find a cure.  You can work with everyone in Washington D.C. so they don’t forget about Type 1 Diabetes kids and you can remind Congress and the President to vote “yes” for more funding and support for Type 1 Diabetes.

As my new teammate I need to introduce you to my other friends with Type 1 Diabetes.  My Type 1 Diabetes friends and I have made up our own club called Team M.N.V.  The team is made up of me, Maile Sussman, and Veronica Reynolds.  Our team teaches other kids about Type 1 Diabetes plus we raise a lot of money to help fight Type 1 Diabetes.

On Oct. 23rd Team M.N.V. and all our friends from school will be walking across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with JDRF’s Walk-a-Thon, Walk-to-Cure Diabetes.  We want you to join us for the walk as our special guest.  Don’t worry about raising money; I’ll raise enough for the both of us.    You just need to come out and meet other kids who have Diabetes, plus you get a t-shirt.   Don’t forget to wear comfortable shoes and sunscreen

One last important thing we need to talk about.  The lady at JDRF said that there is a bill in Congress that needs to be approved right away.  The bill is called The Special Diabetes Program.  Some Congress people think it doesn’t have to be renewed until next year (2011).  But if Congress waits, the people finding a cure may not get their money in time.  But, if Congress renews the funding now than the smart people working on a cure will not have to stop and wait.  This way the cure will happen even sooner.  So can you have Congress vote on the bill as soon as they get back to work in September?

I get out of school at 2:40pm¸ so if you want Maile, Veronica, and I can call everyone in Congress and remind them to vote in September.  We are all really hard workers.

Thank you for meeting with me today and thank you for being my team mate.

Your Friend,

“Nicky” Mary Williams

Games, activities, food and more! Popcorn, peanuts and treats galore! You surely won’t want to miss the fun! There are even great prizes to be won!

Please join us for a Carnival of games, fun, food and drink for party-goers of all ages.

Bring the whole family and enjoy arts & crafts, face painting, balloon twisters, an extra special bounce house, and games & prizes for all.

For Adults – participate in interactive discussions with Drs. Adi and Gitelman on the latest in diabetes management and clinical care and the latest and greatest in diabetes research.

For Children of All Ages – learn more about diabetes research by conducting lab experiments with Diabetes Center scientists.

Food and Drink – visit classic, carnival-style booths and enjoy fun and festive snacks and lunch.

Vendor Faire – learn about the latest in diabetes treatments and technologies

Community Corner – find out how you and your family can get involved with community organizations, support groups, camps and much more.

If you or your child have type 1 diabetes, please join the staff at The Diabetes Center at UCSF and the Providers in the UCSF Pediatric Diabetes Clinic for a day of fun and games. This event is open to families with children of all ages.

- Kathleen Fraser

Saturday, 9/25/2010
10:00am-1:00pm

UCSF Medical Center
505 Parnassus
Saunders Court
San Francisco, CA 94143

Driving Directions >>

Lunch and snacks provided.
Registration required by 9/18/10

For more information and to RSVP please contact:
Kathleen Fraser
kfraser@diabetes.ucsf.edu
415-353-9084

We eat low carb, moderate carb, anything that crosses our kitchen table; we are overweight, underweight and just right. We have a Ph.D in calculus and we are put into panic by the word ratio. We have neighbors, aunts, co-workers who tell us we can cure our diabetes with diet and exercise. We feel like we are alone on Planet Earth. Until now.

We may have lots of differences in how we experience our diabetes, not to mention how we live the so-called “rest of our lives”. But we have more common ground than differences. We all got thrust on this crazy path called Managing Type 1 Diabetes and none of us expected or wanted it. Some of us were too young to know how much it would change our lives. But it did. It does. And we handle it amazingly well most of the time, though once in awhile we all feel like running away screaming, “No more! Take away the whole carb-counting-finger-sticking-number-crunching mess…now!” But no matter how well we do with it, we would do a lot better if we could share… our successes as well as our struggles. Come and spend some time with other women who KNOW, really know how it feels.

- Zoe Heyman

Type 1 Women Support Group in Berkeley, supported by the JDRF. First meeting Saturday 9/4 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Library, West Branch Meeting Room, 1125 University Avenue, just East of San Pablo. Free. Facilitated by Zoe Heyman, LADA Type 1, a counselor with 30 years experience running groups.

RSVP or more info:  zoeheyman@comcast.net or call (510) 647-9449.

“The symptoms of type 1 diabetes can often be mistaken for the flu, urinary tract infections or other viruses,” said Bruce Buckingham, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medical Center. “The longer we wait to diagnose type 1 diabetes, the more dangerous it can be. That’s why it’s so important to be ‘T1D Aware’ and to equate frequent urination and excessive thirst as a potential sign of type 1 diabetes.”

In addition to frequent urination and excessive thirst, lower than normal energy, tiredness and weight loss are all telltale signs of type 1 diabetes. Other symptoms include: increased appetite, sudden vision changes, fruity odor on the breath, heavy or labored breathing and/or stupor or unconsciousness. If parents, teachers, school nurses, coaches and even teenagers notice these signs, they should talk to a doctor immediately.

Many children who present with these symptoms also have DKA.  DKA, or diabetic ketoacidosis, occurs when the body breaks down fat for energy instead of sugar. When this happens, the body produces a poisonous acid called a ketone. High levels of ketones are very dangerous and can lead to a coma or even death, especially in young children. DKA is the leading cause of death and disability in children with type 1 diabetes.

Unfortunately, for Theresa Bergholz and her son, Benjamin, DKA was a harsh reality. Benjamin was 11 months old when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He also was in full-blown DKA and spent three days in the ICU. “What I went through with Benjamin was traumatizing – I wish I had known more about type 1 diabetes,” said Theresa Bergholz. “I strongly encourage all parents to get informed so their children don’t suffer like Benjamin did.”

As part of the “T1D Aware” campaign, JDRF will be distributing information and conducting local events across the Bay Area.  For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/MyJDRF.

Downloads

Download the fact sheet >

Download the poster (as shown below) >

“T1D Aware” is made possible with support from Silpada Designs.

About Silpada Designs
Silpada Designs is the world’s largest and fastest-growing sterling silver jewelry home party company.  Silpada Design’s sterling silver jewelry is sold exclusively by 32,000 independent representatives throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  Visit Silpada.com or call 1-888-SILPADA (745-7232) to learn more about our jewelry, to find a local representative or to learn how you can join the Silpada Design’s family as an independent representative.

Congratulations to Allison Porter and the Loving Lyra Family Walk Team, who are registered for the San Francisco Walk to Cure Diabetes across the Golden Gate Bridge.   To read Allison’s idea and those of the other finalist and also to cast your vote for your favorite idea (which you can do each day until September 30) visit,  http://www.walgreens.refresheverything.com

Voting for the new ideas is now open.  You can help Allison win the top prize.   The idea with the most votes from each state will have a $10,000 donation made in its walk team’s honor to the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.

Register for the 2010 Walk to Cure Diabetes and then join us for a fun and inspiring Kick Off luncheon. With your help, JDRF is making a real difference in the lives of people living with diabetes and together we are moving closer to the ultimate goal of a cure. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how you can help cure diabetes.

Select from these great location for next week’s luncheons:

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 – San Francisco

Contemporary Jewish Museum, 12:00pm to 1:30pm.  Free Museum admission following Kick Off
RSVP.  For more information, contact Heather Lum at 415-597-6302 or hlum@jdrf.org.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 – Pleasant Hill

Back Forty Texas BBQ Restaurant, 12:00pm to 1:30pm
RSVP.   For for more information, contact Jen Munak At 415-597-6316 or jmunak@jdrf.org.

Friday, August 20, 2010 – San Jose

San Jose Earthquakes Nutrilite Training Facility, 1:30pm to 3:30pm
RSVP.   For more information, contact Katy Coe at 415-597-6315 or kcoe@jdrf.org.

Saturday, August 21, 2010 – Salinas

Wild Things & Vision Quest, 11:30am to 1:00pm
RSVP.   For more information, contact Katy Coe at 415-597-6315 or kcoe@jdrf.org.

Visit curetype1.org/walk for more details.

THIS MAY COME as a shock to those who know me, but for once in my life I am forced to challenge the infinite wisdom of Homer Simpson who, in reference to something about his legendary cartoon beer drinking, once uttered the following axiom for the ages: “Foam wasn’t spilt in a day.”

Clearly Homer never has attended the Oakland A’s MUG Root Beer Float Day, because in the span of a mere two hours Wednesday morning, foam was not only spilt but flung from wall to wall in the Eastside Club concourse at the Oakland Coliseum as a surging mass of green-and-gold humanity slurped bubbles and sticky-sweet goo in a frenzy of float-making good will to raise a whopping $31,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Sure, there were sales of autographed photos and a silent auction of sports memorabilia, but the bulk of the bucks came $2 at a time as fans bought commemorative plastic mugs, then had floats scooped and poured by A’s players such as Trevor Cahill, Cliff Pennington and Gio Gonzalez, first-base coach Todd Steverson, various Raiderettes, local TV celebrities such as Dan Noyes and Carolyn Johnson and some people from the MTV reality show “Real World/Road Rules: Fresh Meat 2,” whatever that is.

Oh, and me. Yes, technically I was there as a “celebrity” (snicker, chortle-chortle, harrumph, guffaw), assigned to a table with Bay Area News Group sports columnist Cam Inman and his two cute little daughters,
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and my pal Zoe Francis, a former reporter and mom of a teenager with type-1 diabetes. (Hence we manned the sugar-free-float stand, a big draw for diabetics, people on a diet and those who gave up on the long lines at the table with the Raiderettes.)

As celebrities go, all of my scoop mates were far more celebrated than I: Cam for his sports columns, his kids for their cuteness and Zoe for her volunteer work for the JDRF, frequently thronged by fellow foundation workers who hugged her, chatted about insulin pumps and praised her on her brilliant choice of a yellow JDRF shirt because it matched the A’s colors, while I had selected a regrettably blue sweater which turned out to be the exact shade of the Kansas City Royals, the opposing team in that day’s game, causing several savvy A’s fans to recoil in horror.

We went through the lineup. I was a designated diet-root-beer pourer. Cam’s kids would also pour, while their dad and Zoe would lead off by scooping the sugar-free ice cream from huge 5-gallon tubs donated by Dreyer’s, which was pretty darned frozen solid when it arrived, but hey, surely there was time for it to soften. Surely.

And then it began. The hordes stampeded into the concourse as if being chased by bulls through a small Spanish town. Scooping was initiated and I started popping cans like a mad can popper on a popping rampage during a can-popping pop-a-palooza. It got extra crazy when A’s shortstop Cliff Pennington came by our table to sign autographs, making it clear who was the real celeb. (Even Cam’s cute kids took a back seat.)

Pretty soon we couldn’t keep up with demand, mostly because the ice cream was hard as a rock. A rock rolled in milk and sugar and buried in an arctic ice cave for several millennia. We thought we might eventually discover a leg-bone fossil of Early Man in there. Zoe scraped its unforgiving surface with such force that, in an explosion of springs and metal levers, her scoop broke.

“My kingdom for a pick ax,” she called out.

A new scoop appeared out of nowhere, and she was at it again. I felt terrible (sort of) that she was working so hard. Although my job was significantly more taxing anyway. Not only because pouring is the true art of float-making (one must pour gently, with finesse, so as not to fizz the foam and cause cups to runneth over), but also because, while Zoe and Cam jabbed at the glacial core samples, I was left to placate the mobs, offering jocular small talk as people waited in line with their cups extended in patient anticipation. “Heh heh. Our scoopers sure won’t have to go to the gym today!” I’d say. Or, “Hey, I see you’re wearing a lot of A’s gear. Come here often?”

I got a couple of charity laughs, but mostly people just wanted their dang floats and to go drool some more over Cliff. Eventually, runners brought us some huge metal spoons, which helped — until we ran out of diet root beer, and then it was all over anyway. The concourse cleared out to reveal gobs of ice cream mashed into the carpet, paper napkins strewn about like shingles after a tornado, foam oozing down table legs, and a lot of pooped scoopers.

Zoe went home with blisters, a sore wrist and a bent-back thumbnail. Cam had ice cream in his hair. Somehow I thought I could make it through the day without getting root beer in my shoes. Silly me.

To read the full article as it appeared in the Oakland Tribune on August 8, 2010, please click here.