Hundreds of Howard Beach residents and business owners on Saturday descended on the Ave Maria Catholic Academy parking lot for one of the most important and supportive cardiovascular training sessions on the calendar.
While official numbers are still being tallied, tens of thousands of dollars were raised last weekend at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes.
The previous two Howard Beach Walks netted nearly $150,000 combined. And over the past seven years, the community has raised close to $600,000 for JDRF through the Walks.
“Some of my friends have type I [diabetes],” said Gabby Fellouris, 12, when asked why she attended Saturday’s event. “It means that I know that I’m helping kids out there.”
According to the Mayor Clinic, type I diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to allow sugar to enter cells to produce energy.
Recognized as an Accredited Charity by the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, JDRF bills itself as “the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research,” and “the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure” the disease.
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
Forum Photos by Patricia Adams
