Walk to Cure Diabetes fundraiser event set for Saturday
Connor Hammack is 5 years old and has diabetes.
His mom, Robin Hammack, does her best just to let him be a kid.
“It is our job to equip him with the tools and positive attitude to live with diabetes as he grows older until a cure is found,” said Robin Hammack, who will join Connor and her family for the 16th annual “Walk to Cure Diabetes” at 10 a.m. Saturday at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Schusterman Center, 41st Street and Yale Avenue.
It’s the Hammacks’ second year to attend the walk, which is a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Tulsa is one of about 200 cities across the country participating in the walk, which raises more than $100 million each year for the foundation, said Nikki DeFalco, executive director of its Tulsa Green Country Chapter/Northwest Arkansas Branch.
Last year, more than 3,000 people attended the walk in Tulsa, with participants asking family, friends and co-workers to donate money to the cause, DeFalco said.
At least 25 friends and loved ones will be joining the Hammacks. DeFalco will be there, too – not only as a supporter but as someone living with diabetes, having been diagnosed as a teenager.
“All the warning signs were there,” said DeFalco, who couldn’t drink enough water to quench her thirst, experienced rapid weight loss and felt lethargic. That eventually led to a one-week stint in intensive care.
“Diabetes changes your entire life, every minute of every day,” said DeFalco, who has an insulin pump to keep her body supplied with the blood glucose-lowering drug.
The disease prompted a career change for DeFalco, who traded her dreams of being an attorney to working for the research foundation.
“I would’ve washed the windows in order just to work here,” she said. “I’m going to be here until we turn the lights out.”
The organization hopes that won’t happen until there’s a cure for diabetes, the ultimate goal of this weekend’s walk.
Registration, along with breakfast, will start at 9 a.m., with the walk itself starting at 10 a.m. The walk is approximately 1 1/4-miles long, and strollers, skates and leashed dogs are welcome.
At 11 a.m., a hot dog roast will be held, and entertainment will include a live band, inflatable games for kids, face-painting, and appearances by Safari Joe and the Tulsa 66ers.
In the meantime, all walk teams are invited to create team T-shirts to wear on the day of the event and be entered into a contest.
Walk to Cure Diabetes
What: 16th annual fundraising
walk supporting the
Juvenile Diabetes Research
Center
When: Saturday 9 a.m.
registration, 10 a.m. walk,
11 a.m. hot dog roast and
family activities
Where: OU-Tulsa Schusterman
Center, 41st Street
and Yale Avenue
For free registration, visit
tulsaworld.com/jdrf.
For more, call 918-481-
5807.
Original Print Headline: Every walk helps to beat disease
Jason Ashley Wright 918-581-8483
jason.wright@tulsaworld.com
Article source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20111012_11_A2_ULNShu602341
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Tagged With diabetes, diabetes management, diabetes mellitus
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