Over 500 people gathered on the grounds of Hidden Lake Park on this gray and cloudy Sunday morning in late September. The clouds did little to dampen the enthusiasm of those gathered, however, and spirits flew high as the crowd united in purpose, intent on fulfilling their promise on this day: to work together to help find a cure for juvenile diabetes.
Jeff Stack, Chief Marketing Officer at Stack & Van Til, Ultra Foods and Town & Country was excited to dive into the event. Strack & Van Til was founded in 1960 in Highand, Indiana and currently operates 38 stores across the Chicagoland area and Northwest Indiana.
“We’ve been involved with the JDRF for over 15 years,” Strack said. “It was just very exciting to see all the different ways that our stores were able to find opportunities to help get involved with this event. From our pin-up campaign at the registers, to associate dress-down days, we’re just very proud to be able to be here, to be a part of this and to help the JDRF make a difference.”
Strack was especially happy to be able to present his companies’ donation to the event – a check in the amount of $75,000.
Families and teams from all across the region gathered together to raise donations for the JDRF, including Puntillo & Crane Orthodontics, Bosak Motors, Rebecca’s Rescuers, the Crown Point Bulldogs, and others were out in full-force. Walkers were cheered on by a special appearance by Rascal, the Gary Railcats’ mascot, and members of the Valparaiso University Crusaders men’s basketball team were on hand to help participants get a good stretch in before the walk. Dr. Elizabeth Littlejohn of the Kovler Diabetes Center at the University of Chicago believes that early diagnosis is key to treatment of juvenile diabetes.
“We are a center for TrialNet, which is an international study of individuals who are likely to be at greatest risk of developing Type 1 diabetes. Those individuals have relatives who have already been diagnosed with Type 1,” Littlejohn said. “We then can offer one of several therapies in an attempt to prevent that person from developing diabetes.”
“We are here today to offer a free screening for diabetes. Through a simple capillary prick test, we can check for markers which indicate a potential for developing Type 1 Diabetes. The more markers a person has, the more likely it is that they could develop the disease. “
Healthy food options and water were provided by Strack &Van Til, and activities such as touch football and temporary tattoos were there to help keep the younger walkers entertained.
We met with Mary Anne McKenna Bryan, walk manager, who explained a little more about the JDRF and what they do.
“This is one of seven walks which are organized by the Illinois chapter of the JDRF, and we have raised over $12 million this year, between walks such as this one and other events. That money is used in the early diagnosis and treatment of Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes,” said McKenna Bryan. “We expect to raise $250,000 at this event. We already know that we are well over $200,000, which far exceeds our goal for this year, thanks in large part to the effort and tremendous generosity of the Strack & Van Til family.”
We caught up with Jeff Strack and his wife Shawn as they crossed the finish line after the event.
“This has just been an amazing event. We hope that, with the help of events like this one, and the generous donations of all those who helped to make this possible, we can raise enough money to one day find a cure, and to make Type 1 Diabetes become Type NONE Diabetes,” Jeff smiled.
For more information, or to find out what you can do to help, visit the JDRF website at www.jdrf.org.