Advocacy, Awareness and Fund-raising Groups.

There are many groups that advocate, raise awareness and/or fund-raise for diabetes. I’m sure I will leave out some important ones in this post, but I just want to highlight a few of the bigger ones that I know about:

• The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) - Their mission, according to their website, is to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes and its complications through the support of research. They fund-raise through things like walks, and lots of other things, and then that money goes to fund research. JDRF focuses on funding “cure” research, not treatment research, although they do fund a little bit of “treatment” research if it’s really amazing and life changing. They also do a lot of advocacy campaigns that involve appealing to members of congress, specifically the Promise to Remember Me and Children's Congress campaigns. JDRF has lots of local chapters , so you can find one and join one if you are interested in getting involved in your area!

• The American Diabetes Association (ADA)- This is one of the better known organizations in the U.S. that advocate and create awareness for diabetes. They also fund research for diabetes and provide services through local chapters. This organization has traditionally been thought of as catering to the Type 2/Gestational diabetes crowd, but they have recently made great efforts to help and reach out to the Type 1 community too. They are a GREAT resource on the internet for information about diabetes, and they do a great job with making diabetes easy to understand for the lay-person. Also, they are pairing up with Bret Michaels for a prevention & awareness campaign. Go Bret!

• The International Diabetes Federation (IDF)- This is an organization that is committed to raising awareness about diabetes on an international level. I’m just beginning to learn more about this group, but I think it’s a great idea. Their web-site says they are “an umbrella organization of over 200 national diabetes associations in over 160 countries.” What a great idea! There needs to be some kind of organized effort among all of these groups! Also, they lead the World Diabetes Day campaign!

These are just a few of the groups out there that are committed to supporting people with diabetes and their support systems! If you’re looking for a place to make a charitable donation in the future, any one of these groups would be a great recipient!

Next Up: All about Insulin Pumps!

Also, don’t forget that World Diabetes Day is coming up on SUNDAY! Don’t forget to wear blue, post something on your facebook or twitter status, or just do something to help create awareness that day!