Angelo and Annemarie Gurino at the finish line of last weekend’s Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Ride to Cure 100 mile race. Photo Courtesy of The Gurino Family
As part of their demonstrated support and commitment to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), local businessman Angelo Gurino of Howard Beach and prominent criminal attorney Joe Mure of Neponsit, are repeat participants in the JDRF Ride for a Cure Race.
Riders from around the world take on two challenges: raising the money needed to fund research for better treatments and a cure for diabetes, and reaching a personal training goal to prepare for a destination cycling experience.
The journey begins by traveling to one of the destination Ride locations and meeting up with fellow riders to begin a weekend of safety seminars, planned excursions, and team building celebrations. All leading up to the big event…Ride Day.
And this past weekend Gurino and Mure traveled with family members to Nashville Tennessee to complete in the grueling 100-mile course which was spread out over the Tennessee countryside and steep rolling hills.
Mure, a prominent criminal attorney from Belle Harbor, is well known for his dedication to JDRF. Mure has a son with the disease and continues to lead successful fundraising efforts for the Brooklyn-Queens chapter of the nationwide organization.
“The first rest stop came at 21-miles for me,” said Joe Mure, “and honestly I felt as though I were not going any further.” The increased elevation and the hills were presenting more of a challenge than either rider was expecting.
Gurino and his wife Annemarie are very active in the organization, contributing food for many fund raising events from their gourmet food market, Ragtime in Howard Beach. Their nephew, Vincent was diagnosed with the disease several years back and now the couple and their entire family are devoted supporters in the quest to cure Type 1 diabetes.
The pair joined 513 other riders who raised over $1.5 million in the event, making it the largest event of its kind ever, with New York coming in third place for overall money raised. “It’s great to be a part of this,” Angelo Gurino said exhausted at the finish line. “The people out here are raising a lot of money and we are getting a lot closer to wiping this [juvenile diabetes] out. We’re going to see that happen in our lifetime and that’s big.” Gurino will participate in another race in October, this time pedaling 75-miles for Multiple Sclerosis.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Type 1 diabetes strikes children and adults, causes dependence on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. The money raised helps JDRF move faster toward better treatments and a cure for type 1 diabetes.
For those who do not have their own special reason for riding they can be matched a Youth Ambassadors – a young hero from your own community living with diabetes.
If you’d like to help out and want more information visit RIDE.JDRF.ORG
By Patricia Adams
We would like to offer a very sincere apology for incorrectly identifying Vincent Gurino in a photo at the JDRF charity gala in last week’s issue. We mistakenly used Vincent’s brother’s name, Anthony, in the caption. By the way, Vincent we could just call you champ and always be right!
