We’re thrilled to be leading the latest installment of JDRF’s Promise Campaign. Promise turns 10 years old in 2010 and what a decade it has been! Over that time, all of your hard work has generated nearly 1,500 meetings with Members of Congress across the country. In 2008, our efforts helped secure the second largest amount of funding ever dedicated to type 1 research—$450 million!
This sixth edition of Promise still brings challenges, though. Our goal for the Campaign is nothing less than to set another all-time record for completed meetings…400! We need your help to make this goal a reality. You can help us by clicking here to register to attend a local meeting. You can also let us know if you’d like to help organize a meeting.
To begin this journey, we wanted to just tell each of you a bit about ourselves and our connections to type 1 diabetes:
Michelle Crouse 
In the spring of 2004, my three year old son, Cameron was asked to attend a Promise Meeting with Senator Richard Shelby. This was our first taste of JDRF Advocacy and we were hooked. From that point on, we became active in campaigns and had become full fledged “Advocates.”
In 2006, I took on an Advocacy leadership role as the Alabama Activation Leader (AL). Developing a relationship with the Alabama congressional delegation and being able to meet with them to discuss our most current campaign was empowering. It was at this point that I realized that Advocacy was my passion. I truly believe that it is the ongoing work in Government Relations that brings us closest to our cure.
One of my proudest Advocacy moments is that Alabama was able to secure eight out of nine meetings during our last Promise Campaign in 2008.
Today, I continue with my role as the Alabama AL, but I also work at the regional level as a member of our Grassroots Leadership Team, mentoring other Advocacy leaders across the country. I am so thankful to my family, Hans, Cameron, Charlie, and Gretchen for supporting my work with the JDRF.
I could not be more excited about the upcoming Promise Campaign and I look forward to working with all of you as we continue our commitment to finding a cure. Thank you all for everything that you do.
Camille Nash 
I'm a Chicago native. I’ve been living in Minnesota for 16 years now. I have three children, the youngest, Peter, is 16. Claire and Julia just turned 21. Julia was diagnosed with type 1 at age 12, and we keep our fingers crossed that Claire doesn't get it; and for a long time, I panicked every time Claire got sick, wondering if this would be the trigger.
I told Julia I couldn't carry the burden of having type 1 for her, but that I'd do everything I could to help find a cure. I volunteered with JDRF in a lot of different areas. But after our involvement with Children's Congress (where Julia was a delegate from Minnesota and Claire was a Cub Reporter), I found a "home" in JDRF’s Advocacy Program. I feel really, really lucky to not only have found JDRF, which I think is integral to finding the cure for type 1, but also to have found people who share this mission that are so great to work with.
Melinda Rose 
As the mother and sister of type 1 diabetics, I desperately want a cure. When I joined JDRF as an advocate 17 years ago, it soon became evident to me that research dollars are the key to finding a cure. Obviously, our lawmakers’ votes are needed to receive these dollars. I have accompanied many children and their families to Promise meetings and during these meetings each lawmaker has an ‘I get it’ moment when the children tell them about living with diabetes.
When the children ask, “Promise To Remember Me”, the lawmakers react with compassion and resolve. An added benefit of these meetings is that the children come away feeling empowered, which makes for better management of their diabetes. I firmly believe that when a cure comes (and it will), it will be because JDRF led the way with events such as Promise. I learned years ago that being an advocate for my child did not stop in the hospital, at the doctor’s office or by managing diabetes on a daily basis—it happened in my lawmakers’ offices as well.
Stefanie Sonico 
I am the mother of a 23 year old son who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 20 months. I started to volunteer with the JDRF soon after his diagnosis because I wanted to do something, anything, to help find a cure. I became interested in government relations because it allowed ordinary people, like me, to make an extraordinary impact. The idea that I could help influence the decision of a legislator in a way that positively impacted research funding was amazing.
Promise meetings allow advocates to do just that; it’s so rewarding to see a family or a child realize how powerful their voice can be. Because of JDRF's fundraising and government relations activities, my belief in a cure remains as strong as it was over 22 years ago. Having a child with diabetes has shaped much of my life and made me realize the importance—and the impact—of making my voice heard.