JDRF Collects Donations in preparation for a charity walk in Raleigh

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The JDRF’s logo. JDRF was founded in 1970, and its primary function is to help people with type 1 diabetes through research and treatment.

The JDRF, also known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, has been collecting donations from Leesville students during the week of September 14th. JDRF’s mission is to find a cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its complications through the support of research. The donations will be given directly to the JDRF, Donations were collected in the form of cash and checks in all classrooms during 1st period. The class that collected the most money will win the grand prize–a Chick-Fil-A breakfast.

“The money is donated to JDRF, and JDRF uses the money to do research to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes and also to help make life better for people with type 1 diabetes. By being a part of this group I’ve actually gone to a lot of the meetings that they have and I’ve heard a lot of the new research that’s coming out that changes how our type 1 diabetics are able to live each day. They’re not having to do the injections like they once did, they’ve got a lot of continuous glucose monitors and various other things that just make the quality of life better for folks with type 1,” said Ms. Mayfield, a math teacher and JDRF coordinator at Leesville. She stated in an e-mail that “We collected $3810.76 for JDRF that week. We are still collecting donations online and we hope to be able to reach $12,000 by the date of the walk on October 24th. As of today, we have a total of $5505.76 between on-line donations and the money we collected in classes.”

The JDRF was founded in 1970, in Philadelphia. Their primary fundraiser, the Walk to Cure Diabetes Program, has raised over 1 billion dollars since 1992. The JDRF’s primary function is to fund research for a cure to type 1 diabetes, or, as they put it, “turn type 1 into type none.”

Type 1 diabetes is an immune disorder in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin. People afflicted with Type 1 diabetes, as of the present, deal with a torrent of possible medical problems and are dependent on injected insulin for their whole lives. The JDRF reports that “1.25 million Americans are living with T1D, including about 200,000 youth (less than 20 years old) and over a million adults (20 years old and older)”.

The JDRF’s activity at Leesville means a lot to some people. “It [the fundraiser] means the opportunity to get rid of a disease that is afflicting millions of children from a very young age all through their adult life, and it makes me feel very thankful my own children are healthy. It’s something that could seemingly be cured in the next decade, perhaps,” said Mrs. Dinkenor, a teacher at Leesville. She went on to express sympathy for students at Leesville afflicted by type 1 diabetes, whom she felt “suffer in silence.”

“I think it gives a great sense of community and support for students who either have type 1 diabetes themselves or who have family members who have type 1 diabetes, because this isn’t limited just to our students who are dealing with type 1 diabetes themselves, some of them have parents, some have brothers and sisters, who they are seeing have to live with this disease. And they’re getting to see the research and the modifications to their quality of life that are coming from the research and all the exciting things that are coming out. And There’s a lot that’s in testing right now, that in the next few years could really change the way our students and their families live. It’s good to see the community rallying behind these students,” said Ms. Mayfield.

Local eateries such as Five Guys and Yogurt Mountain donated a portion of their proceeds to the JDRF’s Raleigh charity walk on Thursday. Leesville students were encouraged to enjoy a meal to further donations to JDRF.

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