Type 1 diabetes has a few big organizations that work to spread the message and inform the general public about what the disease is all about, and how we can work towards better treatments – and most prominently, a cure. As mentioned in our report on Donor Messaging, organizations such as the JDRF, the ADA, Joslin, and DRIF all host fundraisers throughout the year that raise money towards a cure – or at least, that promise to direct the funds they receive towards a cure.
As an example, some of these fundraisers include: JDRF’s “Walk to Cure Diabetes”, the DRIF’s “Carnival For a Cure”, Joslin’s “Committed to a Cure” gala and the ADA’s “Tour de Cure”. Others implicitly state messages that support a cure, such as the JDRF’s Hope Gala or Promise Gala. Similarly, the ADA’s campaign to “Stop Diabetes” would seem to mean eliminating or curing diabetes.
The message being sent to donors, and to people interested in these charity foundations, is that this money is definitely going into research that will hopefully one day produce a cure. While it is true that in order for these foundations to function, money also needs to go into other sources – there seems to be a significant divide between the resources actually going into type 1 cure research, and the promises being contained within the titles of these fundraisers. The emotionally charges language, pictures and testimonials further encourage people to donate money. There is still a lot of hope in the diabetes community that we will one day achieve a cure – but we need to make sure that the donated resources are being used in the most efficient and promising way.
