Recently, the Lionakis Foundation hosted the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) for a Lunch & Learn. The Lionakis Foundation was established in 2009 as a charitable organization dedicated to philanthropy, giving back financial support and volunteerism to promote a better future for the communities in which we all live and work. The charitable organizations we give back to are held close to our employees’ hearts and are nominated and funded by them. JDRF is a nonprofit that leads the fight against type 1 diabetes (T1D) by funding research, advocating for policies that accelerate access to new therapies, and providing a support network for millions of people worldwide.
JDRF Mission: “Improving lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications.”
In T1D, your pancreas stops producing insulin—a hormone the body needs to get energy from food. If you have T1D, you must constantly monitor your blood-sugar level, inject or infuse insulin through a pump, and carefully balance these insulin doses with your eating and activity throughout the day and night.
However, insulin is not a cure for diabetes. Even with the most vigilant disease management, a significant portion of your day will be spent with either high or low blood-sugar levels. These fluctuations place people with T1D at risk for potentially life-threatening hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic episodes as well as devastating long-term complications such as kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, blindness, and amputation.
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Their strength lies in their exclusive focus and singular influence on the worldwide effort to end T1D.
They work every day to change the reality of this disease for millions of people—and to prevent anyone else from ever knowing it—by funding research; advocating for government support of research and new therapies; ensuring new therapies come to market and are recommended by healthcare providers; and connecting, engaging, and educating the T1D community.
We’re very appreciative of Qiana, a Senior Development Manager for JDRF NorCal, for coming and educating us about JDRF. At the end of the program, the Lionakis Foundation presented JDRF with a check for $5,000.
