Benefit walk set for Saturday

A walk to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will be held in Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 9 a.m.

Registration is from 8:30-9 am, and the walk itself is from 9-11 am. Water and snacks will be provided for all walkers. The overall fundraising goal is $10,000 which includes online donations.  More information can be found at: http://jdrfevents.donordrive.com/event/injectinghope2011.

Those wishing to donate to JDRF can do so on the same web page.  Injecting Hope is a great way for anyone and everyone to make a difference in the fight against Type 1 Diabetes.

Event organizers Kathy Lafon and Cami Lockhart, both who are parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes said “Our children must prick their fingers to check blood sugar levels at least 4 times a day. That’s as many as 1,460 finger-pricks a year. Diabetic children also must receive man made insulin every day to stay alive, either through as many as 4-5 shots a day with a syringe or through an insulin pump.  A diabetic child and their family must juggle diet, exercise, emotions and insulin 24 hours a day. It is never ending.”

Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic, debilitating disease affecting every organ system that strikes children and adults suddenly, and lasts a lifetime.  Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food.  People with Type 1 Diabetes must take multiple injections of insulin daily or continuous infusion of insulin through a pump just to survive.  Taking insulin does not cure any type of diabetes nor prevent the possibility of its eventual and devastating effects: kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputation, heart attack, and stroke.  There are approximately 3 million Americans living with Type 1 Diabetes, and more than 30,000 children and adults are diagnosed every year.

JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of Type 1 Diabetes research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.4 billion to diabetes research, including more than $100 million in FY2009.