HELP A DIABETIC CHILD AWARDED A GRANT

HELP A DIABETIC CHILD AWARDED RICHARD M. SCHULZE FAMILY FOUNDATION GRANT TO ASSIST CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

Help A Diabetic Child (HADC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children and families who are dealing with diabetes, has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. The grant will benefit local children and young adults in securing life-saving insulin and diabetes medical supplies.

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to naturally regulate the body’s blood sugar, leaving diagnosed individuals with a life-long dependency on costly medical insulin. Without the adequate insulin, a child can only survive a few days.

“We are grateful to the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation for their support of families in our community who struggle financially and emotionally while living with diabetes,” said Tami Balavage, Founder/President for Help A Diabetic Child. “This grant will help us continue to assist those who, through no fault of their own, are left behind.”

The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation was created in 2004 by Best Buy founder Dick Schulze to “support transformational change for the benefit of mankind.” The Foundation has consistently directed its primary efforts and resources toward matters of importance in human and social services, education, and health and medicine with a geographic emphasis on the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and Collier and Lee counties.

Help A Diabetic Child was founded in Naples in 2010 by Balavage after her 16-year-old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It quickly became evident that there was a significant number of children who were unable to get adequate medical supplies for blood glucose testing and insulin injections, which must be done multiple times daily.

Statistics show that the number of Americans being diagnosed with diabetes continues to rise at alarming rates. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) reports that almost 10% of the population has diabetes, while another 8 million are undiagnosed. In addition, the ADA reports that 86 million Americans over the age of 20 years have pre-diabetes.

To learn more about the Help A Diabetic Child Foundation or to support its mission of providing life-saving supplies and services, visit online at www.helpadiabeticchild.org.