NORTH BRANCH — The Mid-Jersey Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) steps into its annual walk season beginning with one of four walks on Sunday, Oct. 2, in North Branch, at Raritan Valley Community College. In addition to wide spread corporate support from Skanska, CNA, Terumo Medical Corporation, Johnson Johnson, Bloomberg Financial, Novo Nordisk Inc., Mazda, Quick Chek Food Store, Coca-Cola Refreshments, Six Flags Great Adventure, and Hess Corporation, the four events are expected to draw approximately 5,800 walkers raise approximately $1.3 million for research that will bring us one step closer to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.
This year JDRF will be rocking and rolling to the tunes of Aerosmith and other timeless greats. The event will include interactive activities for kids, food and, of course, a 5k to cure diabetes. Each participant raising over $100 will walk away with not only a t-shirt, but also a great sense of pride knowing that they made a difference in the life of someone with type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes affects over 3 million Americans, both children and adults, with 80 new diagnoses per day. This disease strikes suddenly, changing the lives not only of the ones with the disease but also their family and friends. Individuals living with the disease require multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation. And this is why the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is leading the movement toward finding a cure and its complications through support and research. Since founded in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.5 billion to more than 1,000 centers, grants and fellowships in 22 countries. These are great accomplishments, however, there is still much more to be done.
JDRF will be holding three more walks through out October:
Sunday, Oct. 9, Morris County Walk
County College of Morris in Randolph
Saturday, Oct. 22, Hudson County Walk
Liberty State Park in Jersey City
Sunday, Oct. 23, Middlesex/Mercer Counties Walk
Cook Campus- Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Also in the upcoming months JDRF will be holding a Golf tournament and a Gala to raise money towards the cause.
For more information or to donate visit: walk.JDRF.org.
