The Hope Gala

JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide.  The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.  Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.  While diagnosis most often occurs in childhood and adolescence, it can and does strike adults as well, and lasts a lifetime.  To stay alive, people with type 1 diabetes must take multiple injections of insulin daily or continually infuse insulin through a pump, and test their blood sugar six or more times per day.  While trying to balance insulin doses with their food intake and daily activities, people with this form of diabetes must always be prepared for serious hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic reactions, both of which can be life-limiting and life threatening.  Insulin is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

JDRF funding and leadership is associated with most major scientific breakthroughs in type 1 diabetes research to date. Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.3 billion to diabetes research, including more than $156 million in FY 2008.  More than 85 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and research-related education.  In FY2007, the Foundation funded more than 700 centers, grants, and fellowships in 20 countries.

JDRF has helped to achieve countless scientific advances, and we have much for which to be proud! These breakthroughs have helped make life better for the millions of us who live with diabetes every day.  Today, major scientific discoveries are taking place in JDRF-funded laboratories all over the world.  The driving force behind more than 100 JDRF locations worldwide that raise money and advocate for government spending for type 1 diabetes research are our committed volunteers.  They have a personal connection to type 1 diabetes, which translates into an unrelenting commitment to finding a cure. 

Please join us on May 1, 2010 as we raise funds at The Hope Gala to help accelerate the pace of research towards findind a cure.

Cathryn T. Perry
Gala Chair