Ride to Cure Diabetes 2010

My friend and co-worker Greg alerted us of this Juvenile Diabetes event coming up this weekend. Most of us have friends or family members that have suffered from this disease. One of my brothers has battled it for decades. Here’s an opportunity for us to make a difference in many lives.

Greg writes:

Mia and I have been given the opportunity to ride in the 3rd Annual 12 Hour Cycle for a Cure, which is a fund raiser to help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.

Juvenile (or Type 1) diabetes affects nearly three million Americans. It usually strikes in childhood adolescence, or young adulthood, and lasts a lifetime. We have known people that have diabetes including a few in our family. And we had the privilege of knowing a lady in our Montgomery Office who suffered from and eventually lost her life to the disease. If you have never known someone with diabetes or have never known much about the disease, then you would be amazed of the impact on the lives of those that face it daily.

What is Juvenile Diabetes?

There are two major forms of the disease - type I and type II. Type I is called juvenile diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes and occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys certain cells (beta cells) in the pancreas, an organ about the size of a hand that is located behind the lower part of the stomach. The beta cells normally produce a hormone, insulin, which helps the body move glucose contained in food into the cells throughout the body, which use it for energy. When the beta cells are destroyed, no insulin is produced and the glucose stays in the blood instead, where it can cause serious damage to all the organ systems of the body.

JDRF Mission

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is an organization founded on and driven by a single goal: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. In 1970, a small group of parents made a promise to their children --to find a cure for diabetes and its complication. Today that passionate activism continues to drive the organization as it works diligently towards a cure. JDRF is structured on a business world model that efficiently and effectively directs resources to research aimed at finding a cure as soon as possible. JDRF annually receives top ranking from independent sources that rate charitable giving.

Contributions can also be made at the national Ride to Cure Diabetes website. Thank you and God Bless.