It’s that time of year!  Tour de Cure Time!!

For those of you new to this blog, Tour de Cure is an annual bike ride to support the effort to find a cure, prevention, and treatment for Diabetes.

You can donate to me directly here. 

Each year I have to reflect on why I ride for this cause. The answer is simple – it’s for my family and for all the families that have been affected by diabetes.  Diabetes is not a disease only for the obese, the old, or the ‘unhealthy.’  Diabetes strikes anyone at anytime no matter their fitness or health habits.  While we know there are prevention items that lower the risk, we still see that every 19 SECONDS someone is diagnosed with diabetes.

EVERY 19 SECONDS.
3 people per minute.
180 people per hour.
4,320 people per day.
1,576,800 people per year.

Furthermore:
1 in 11 Americans has Diabetes.
1 in 4 adults who has Diabetes doesn’t know it.
1 in 3 adults is at risk of developing Diabetes.
And it must be stopped.

I’m lucky that I’m able to live a diabetes-free life.  I’m lucky that I don’t know what it’s like to be at risk, that I don’t have to worry about DYING due to complications that the rest of us couldn’t begin to understand.

I ride for the 29 million people in the USA that have diabetes.

I ride for the one person I knew who struggled with diabetes until his death – my grandpa. You can see his story here. 

Every dollar that you can donate for the ADA goes directly towards:

RESEARCH

Since the American Diabetes Association launched its Research Programs in 1952, it has funded nearly 4,500 research projects, investing more than $700 million in diabetes research.

In 2014 alone, the Association funded 376 new and continuing research grants and made nearly $30 million in diabetes research funding available through its four major grant programs: the Core Research Program, the Pathway to Stop Diabetes? Program, Research Co-Support, and Collaborative Targeted Research. These funds supported 364 investigators at 143 leading academic research institutions across the U.S.

INFORMATION

The Association provides the public and health care professionals with the most up-to-date information to help take a stand against diabetes through our Center for Information and Community Support (1-800-DIABETES) and two web sites, www.diabetes.org and www.stopdiabetes.com, as well as via consumer and professional books and periodicals. The organization has offices in communities across the country and serves the public through a multitude of programs and activities including American Diabetes Association Expos, Diabetes Camps, and outreach to high-risk populations through its Por tu Familia, Live Empowered! and Native American initiatives. In 2014, 5,400 youth attended one of the 50 Association Camps hosted in 24 states.

ADVOCACY

The Association fights on behalf of the diabetes community to increase federal funding for diabetes research and programs, improve comprehensive health care and insurance coverage, and to end discrimination against people with diabetes. Explore the Advocacy section on our main ADA website and learn what is being done on a local and national level to support people with diabetes, and also learn how you can get involved in those efforts.

You can donate to me here.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

Thank you again for all your support in this effort to end diabetes!!

Brianna