By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)— Walgreens of Hawaii has announced a generous donation of $15,369 to JDRF Hawaii that will be destined to fund much-needed research for type 1 diabetes (T1D).
JDRF, the leading global organization funding T1D research, recently celebrated National Diabetes Awareness Month in November in honor of the millions of people throughout the world living with all types of diabetes. National Diabetes Awareness Month was a month-long series of activities aimed at raising diabetes awareness and calling for urgent action to tackle the global diabetes epidemic. Included in those activities are T1Day on November 1 and World Diabetes Day (WDD) on November 14.
The $15,369 raised this year surpassed the $12,072 raised last year in Hawaii. Walgreens has supported JDRF since 1992 and has raised nearly $28 million—making Walgreens JDRF’s largest corporate supporter of JDRF’s mission to find life-changing treatments and a cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Walgreens generates funds for JDRF through consumer-driven campaigns in more than 8,000 drugstores in the United States and Puerto Rico and also sponsors the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes, offers an internal employee giving campaign and donates $1 for each free flu shot administered.
Scott Sutton, Walgreens Co., District Manager, shared “Walgreens Hawaii is proud to support our local JDRF chapter with our Ways to Well Program. Whether we support donations for our family JDRF Walk team, engage our customers with in-store opportunities, provide hundreds of volunteer hours and free flu shots…it is our way of honoring the people who live with T1D every day.”
“We are very pleased with our long standing support from Walgreens. Their most recent generous donation of $15,369 not only celebrates National Diabetes Month but shows the genuine effort of their employees statewide and the commitment of their customers to make a difference for our community and those living with T1D”, shared Stacey Acma, Executive Director of JDRF Hawaii.
Type 1 diabetes affects both children and adults at any age. Each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults—approximately 80 people per day—are diagnosed with T1D in the U.S. It comes on suddenly, causes dependence on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. JDRF is the only global organization with a strategic research plan to end T1D, and is committed to an ongoing stream of life-changing therapies moving from development through to the marketplace that lessen the impact of T1D.
World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14. The WDD campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. It engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness. WDD was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses. WDD became an official United Nations Day in 2007.
To learn more about T1D or to participate in JDRF’s National Diabetes Awareness activities please visit: http://www. jdrf.org/national-diabetes-awareness-month
About T1D
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. There is nothing you can do to prevent T1D, and—at present—nothing you can do to get rid of it.
About JDRF
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF’s goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people’s lives until we achieve a world without T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure T1D. As the largest charitable supporter of T1D research, JDRF is currently funding $568 million in scientific research in 17 countries.