Tell Me About Your JDRF Walk

I'd like to begin the Arden's Day Anniversary Week celebration on a charitable note. I thought it would be nice if we shared what we love most about our JDRF walk experiences. Everyone who shares their thoughts in the comment section (under this post) will be entered into a drawing. Later, at the end of the week, Arden will pick one winner and my family will make a $50 donation to your walk effort! You can enter up until August 10, 2013 at 11:59PM est. Due to a typo in the entry date (Was originally listed as 8/10/13) the giveaway has been extended. Entries now excepted until August 18, 2013 at 11:59PM EST

I'll get us started...

There are a number of great reasons to walk with your local JDRF chapter and while I'm certain that each of you will have a different 'favorite' part to share, mine is without a doubt the sense of community that I instantly felt when I realized that everyone that was walking either had type I diabetes or loved someone who did.

That feeling helped to buoy me for a number of years after Arden's diagnosis and while I still enjoy that feeling, my reason for returning each year is no longer the same. Today, I walk so that there will be a community for others to draw support from because I know how much seeing that crowd of people meant to me. It's was the first time after Arden was diagnosed that I felt less alone. That's why I walk!

What's you favorite part of walking for the JDRF?

Arden (age 2) and Kelly at our first walk - 2006

other anniversary posts and giveaways

  'Anniversary Week Continues: Books and Video' - A video we made in 2008 to support type I advocacy and a book giveaway.

'Who wants a copy of Coco's First Sleepover?' - I have ten copies of the new Coco book to giveaway

Update on Thursday, August 15, 2013 at 12:53AM by Scott Benner

Due to a typo in the entry date (Was originally listed as 8/10/13) the giveaway has been extended. Entries now excepted until August 18, 2013 at 11:59PM EST

What I Didn't Know: 2013 Edition

I don't know if this has ever happened to you, I suspect that it has... I thought that I stretched myself too thin.

I've spent the last few months thinking that I needed a break, but recently I realized that what I really needed was to keep going. I heard someone say recently that you know when things are going good for you when you don't have any time to enjoy them. That when you have time to sit back and smell the roses... the roses are just about to die, and if you let that happen... they don't ever bloom the same way again. That sentiment pretty much sums up my year and it's message to keep planting roses makes a lot of sense to me.

I've spent these last few weeks trying to have it all, I wanted the roses and the time to smell them, but you know what, it doesn't work like that. The joy comes from planting, tending and nurturing the roses. The energy to do it all again, that comes from watching others enjoy them. 

It took me a while to figure out how to make my new life fit into our day, but I I have it now, I know what to do. Before April of 2012 I had a system and it worked, but when I decided to write my book I added a lot of new moving parts that at times were overwhelming. All of the rest of my life still existed, but suddenly I had a lot more responsibilities and I wasn't always able to balance them with my existing life. Now that I've lived through all of this, I have a much better plan for moving forward - a new attitude of sorts. It's time to pull a few things off of the back burner and get them front and center where they belong and time to see what else lies ahead of me. For the first time since I started writing Life Is Short, I understand how to do that. I understand that I have to stop smelling the roses so I can plant more, so that others can smell them... because that's who I am. 

First up, Arden's Day Gives. I admit it, I couldn't simultaneously learn about starting a charity and write a book for the first time. I tried, but the burden of that froze me last year and so I pushed the charity's 501c3 paper work to the side. Know that my decision to do that broke my heart, but moreover, I was embarrassed to not have the ability to accomplish both. What hurt most was that I could tell it was an obtainable goal that I lacked the knowledge to obtain. 

Arden's Day Gives is my start up charity whose goal is to help offset the cost of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors for children who want but can not afford them. It's in it's infancy, incorporated with the state but not yet a 501c3. This Friday night a few of my friends are holding a Beef and Beer to help support their softball team and ADG. So, if you are in the Bucks County PA area and want to help some aging guys play competitive softball while helping to get Arden's Day Gives off the ground, I have the beef and beer for you!

Moving forward for the rest of 2013 and beyond... Arden's Day Gives is getting going, I'm writing another book and rededicating myself to getting the laundry folded on the day that it comes out of the dryer. Armed with the benefit of this past year's wonderful life lessons, it's time to put what I've learned to good use. I can't wait to see what happens next and I can't wait to find out what else I don't know - so I can keep growing.

Video: Diabetes Hands Foundation Interview

It was my very sincere honor to be asked by the Diabetes Hands Foundation to participate in a live interview with their very own Emily Coles... We spoke about many type I diabetes issues, I made some bad jokes, Arden even made a couple of cameo appearances... I hope that you have time to check it out.

Oklahoma Tornado

Paul Hellstern - Oklahoma APLast night this photo of two teachers leading children to safety brought tears to my eyes and sent me racing to my computer to make a donation to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Today, I've preempted my blog piece about delivering insulin in difficult carb counting situations to pass on information on how you can send relief to the people whose lives where destroyed in yesterday's tornado. I encourage you to make a donation of any size if you are able and please make your friends, both online and IRL, aware of how easy it is to send help. 

American Red Cross

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, donate online, or donate by phone at 1-800-RED CROSS.

Salvation Army

Text STORM to 80888 to contribute $10 to the Salvation Army's relief efforts or make a donation by phone at 1-800-SAL-ARMY. If you're sending a check make sure you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157. Online donations are accepted here.

Life For A Child

The diabetes online community provides support for those who are a part of it. We cheer each other up and on, lend advice, create friendships and so much more. We are people helping people live better with diabetes. I speak about the power of the DOC all of the time, it's staggering to witness it's reach and impact. It's helped me more times than I can count and I bet it's helped you too. 

A few thoughtful folks in the DOC got together recently and began to wonder who else our community could help. How far can our love reach, can it extend beyond my twitter feed, past our FaceBook pages? Can the power of the DOC touch a child in a country that is an ocean away? I think it can. I'd bet on us any day of the week. So please take a moment, read on and find out where and how your love will be used to save a child with diabetes. 

What is the International Diabetes Federation's Life of a Child Program (from the IDF website)

Donations to the IDF Life for a Child Programme are carefully directed to key areas of diabetes care and management so that established paediatric diabetes centres and associations can provide the best possible care, given local circumstances, to all children and youth with diabetes in developing countries.  

Just $1 a day provides a child with:

• regular insulin
• quality blood glucose monitoring equipment (meter, strips, lancets)
• essential clinical care
• up-to-date diabetes education materials
• specialised diabetes training for medical staff 

“The scope of what needs to be done is vast.  Diabetes management is complex. While the first step is getting access to insulin, it needs to be followed up with education on managing diabetes, extending sustained care and also improving the quality of care. This takes both time and ongoing resources, so donations such as yours are crucial to the success and longevity of the Life for a Child Programme. Thank you for your contribution.”

Dr Graham Ogle, LFAC General Manager.

Please consider making a one dollar donation to the IDF's Life For A Child program right now by clicking on this link and join the DOC in their Valentine's Day effort to Spare a Rose and Save a Child. Give the one you love eleven roses this year and then send the money you save to a child that desperately needs insulin. 

Please share this page with the DOC and beyond. Then write about Life For A Child on your blog, FaceBook wall or twitter feed. Click here for more information on how you can help. Let's take this DOC thing out for a spin and really find out what it can do!