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Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Help find a Cure for Juvenile Diabetes
 http://www.jdrf.org/

Hello!

I’m asking for your support to help the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) find a CURE for diabetes. JDRF is the worldwide leader for research to cure Type 1 diabetes. It sets the global agenda for diabetes research and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of diabetes science worldwide.

Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes, is a devastating, often deadly disease that affects millions of people–a large and growing percentage of them children. Many people think juvenile diabetes can be controlled by insulin. While insulin does keep people with type 1 diabetes alive, it is NOT a cure. Aside from the daily challenges of living with type 1 diabetes, there are many severe, often fatal, complications caused by the disease.
 
There is some good news, though. For the first time, scientists are predicting that we CAN expect to see a CURE well within our lifetime! Now, more than ever, you can make a crucial difference. It’s our mission to avoid all of the problems that are possible when you have a lifetime of diabetes.

Last year I took part in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s “Walk to Cure Diabetes” held at the DCR Hatch Shell in Boston, MA on October 2, 2010. I wheeled with “Samantha’s Striders” to raise money for JDRF in support of my friend’s six year old daughter Samantha, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in November 2008 just three months after her 4th birthday. Sam will be insulin-dependent for the rest of her life or until a cure is found. Insulin is not a cure, it’s her life support. On a normal day, Sam endures at least 6 shots and 8 finger pricks. To help put it in perspective, that’s over 2,100 shots a year!

While Sam has really adjusted well to her routine, it breaks my heart to hear what she has to go through on a daily basis. In addition to her rigorous blood testing and insulin shots, everything she consumes must be measured, and the carbohydrates counted.

That’s why we’re doing everything in our power to help find a CURE for this disease – for Sam and for the 15,000 other children that are diagnosed each year. In the United States, a new case of diabetes is diagnosed every 30 seconds.

Last  year, thanks to Sam’s generous family and friends, “Samantha’s Striders” raised over $10,000 in donations for the walk. Thank you to everyone that donated and/or participated!

I’m asking for your support because now, more than ever, you can make a crucial difference. Please give to JDRF as generously as possible. Every dollar will help find a CURE.

You can make a tax deductible donation to Samantha’s 2011 JDRF Walk online by clicking on Donate Now.

Any donation is greatly appreciated and gets us closer to finding a cure!

Together, we can make the CURE a REALITY!

Thank you very much for your support!

Kenny Cieplik