Lindsey, Alexandra, and Hannah
University of Rochester, George Mason University, and Duke University
University of Rochester- Lindsey
Our Chapter of The Diabetes Link at the University of Rochester received a grant to help fund our Yoga and Smoothies Study Break! At our school, during our “reading period” between the end of classes and the start of finals, student clubs host study breaks with free food and relaxing activities. Our Chapter wanted to host one so we could promote the importance of being healthy in both body and mind, especially during the stressful time of finals. Winning the CDN grant was extremely useful for us in hosting this event because we cannot use money from our school to buy food. This makes it very difficult for our Chapter to put on events. The smoothies we made for the event tasted delicious, and our study break event was successful because so many people came by to enjoy smoothies and practice yoga with us!
This was the first study break we have ever hosted, so it was important to us that this event went well. Hosting a study break is something that many established clubs do on campus, so it felt like a milestone for our Chapter to be able to host our own. Thank you to CDN for giving us a grant to help us host this event!
George Mason University- Alexandra
This year our chapter hosted its first, hopefully annual, Off to College event. This event consisted of an outreach program to high schools local to the Fairfax area to encourage high school students, mainly rising seniors, to attend. Our estimated logistics for the day actually turned out to be correct. We predicted that we would have roughly 40 people in attendance, and we did.
To begin our program, we split the parents and kids into two separate groups. The topic of discussion mainly revolved around the parents realizing that they have raised their children well and should be able to trust them to take care of themselves whilst at school. Chapter members gave anecdotes about how our families stay in communication with us.
After lunch, we talked with the high school students. At first it was challenging to get them to participate but after a few ice breakers they began to talk with us. The conversations with the high school students and parents were similar. We reminded the students that their parents are going to be worried when they are away from home, but that is only because they love them and don’t want anything bad to happen to them.
At the end of the program, everyone was very appreciative of all of our hard work and was thankful for all of the tips and reassurance that we gave them!
“At the end of the program, everyone was very appreciative of all of our hard work and was thankful for all of the tips and reassurance that we gave them!”
Duke University- Hannah
Reaching across T1D Borders
At the beginning of this semester, our Chapter of The Diabetes Link at Duke University reached out to Beyond Type 1, encouraged by the model The Diabetes Link has set in terms of collaborating with different diabetes organizations and companies like JDRF, Beyond Type 1, Novo Nordisk, and so many more. We heard about the story of Jack Smith, an 8-year-old T1D champion with a rare insulin allergy (see his story here). We wanted to do something to help, especially as Jack was being seen by an immunologist at Duke Medical Center, but we weren’t sure how we could best support him.
Solving the Problem through CDN
Again and again, we have been overwhelmed in the best way by the resources, suggestions, and opportunities offered to each chapter by The Diabetes Link. Like always, The Link helped us solve our problem with a just-in-time grant for Duke’s Chapter, “Crazies for a Cure.” Full of gratitude and excitement, our Chapter got together to write some words of encouragement in a card for Jack and used the grant to put together a Duke basketball-themed care package.
“Again and again, we have been overwhelmed in the best way by the resources, suggestions, and opportunities offered to each Chapter by CDN.”
Send Off!
As we folded the Blue Devil jersey, taped up the box, and sent Jack a little bit of hope and local support, our Chapter saw The Link’s impact amplified in the diabetes community through their generous grant. Our members and our advisor, Dr. David Lobach, an endocrinologist from Duke Medical Center, all came together in support and empathy at a meeting focused around creating the care package for Jack. Through this grant, we each experienced a whole new sort of awareness, focused on understanding Jack’s unusual, difficult T1D story all while collaborating across T1D organizations. We wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without The Diabetes Link; thank you for our grant!
Editor’s Note: This article was published when The Diabetes Link was College Diabetes Network (CDN).
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