Campaign Updates
You came. You saw. They promised. The 2008 Promise To Remember Me has officially wrapped up as JDRF’s most successful to date, with an incredible 374 personal meetings taking place in congressional districts across the nation. Kudos to you, JDRF advocates, for making this program a huge success.
Some snapshots to take away from this program include:
*You successfully met with nearly 70 percent of our national elected officials – and all in less than a year. To look closer, you met with 68 percent of the Democrats and 72 percent of Republicans. You met with an amazing 90 percent of the Senate Finance Committee, a key group for our immediate and future needs, as well as with 75 percent of the House Energy Committee, another key group.
While many of your meetings took place at district offices, you were more than creative in finding great locations to meet up with your elected officials at. Some of you sat down for picnics with them; others met up at public appearances. And just to prove how flexible we are, some of you went all out, meeting elected officials at birthday parties and in one case, in the lobby of a hospital while the Congressman’s grandchild was being born upstairs. These locations prove not only that you are resourceful: they also prove that when JDRF advocates call, elected officials respond—no matter what else is going on in their lives.
Your determination was remarkable as well. We started out back in August with a bang, scheduling an impressive 39 meetings in a month that Promise had never taken place in before. And you kept pushing. As the months went on, your work level increased and increased. Rather than burn out, you thrived. Our final Promise month, April, brought in a total of 68 meetings on its own. Talk about finishing up with a flourish.
But the most important thing about Promise is quite simple: These meetings mattered. And continue to matter. With the renewal of our Special Type 1 Funding still in the works, this was – and is – a year that we need to grab and keep hold of the attention of every single elected official in Washington. What better way to have done that then to have spread across the country and met with such a high percentage of them? As we work toward that goal and our elected officials are called on to make decisions, you can be sure that JDRF – by way of your face and your voice – will be foremost on their minds. After all, you came to meet with them. You saw them face to face. And they, across the board, Promised to Remember You.
Thanks for everything you do and congratulations on a successful campaign!
Tom and Lorraine
We’re more than half way to the finish line on Promise to Remember Me 2008, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to sit back. In fact, anyone who has run a marathon or watched a basketball game (and who hasn’t been watching basketball these past weeks!) knows, it’s the effort you put into the last mile or the last two minutes that really shows what you are made of.
With just weeks left in PRMC, we all need to dig deep and find that extra surge of energy to catapult us across the finish line as winners: winners who not not only made 400 In-District Congressional meetings happen, but who left a mark that led to the renewal of our Special Diabetes Funding.
Thankfully, we’ve all trained well and are ready for our late-game push. For those of who attended Government Day, you know the vital importance of finding our way across the finish line. For those of you who have attending phone call trainings, read the weekly email blasts or spoken with your chapters about this, you too understand why we have to dig deep.
So now it’s time to do it. If you’ve been making calls and working on meetings all year, bravo for you, and we know you can find that extra boost of adrenalin to make this happen. Review what you’ve done and look at what you can try for again. Like the quality athlete who has hit a few three pointers but missed some others, embrace your confidence and go at one again. Call the office that have put you off; explain that more than half of Congress had made visits happen; their office needs to as well.
If you’ve been on the bench for this, we’re ready to call you in.
Fresh voices are more than welcome, and it’s not too late to be part of the winning team. If you need advice, ask us. If you know the drill and are ready to step in, just let us know and we’re happy to have you on the team.
Think of all the great victories you’ve seen in your life: really, almost all of them come down to the wire. Heartbreak Hill at the Boston Marathon. Overtime in the NCAA. Shoot outs in the NHL. It’s the stuff great wins are made of. Let’s do the same here and give it all we have to make Promise to Remember Me 2008 a recordbreaker, a success and most of all, a victory in our race toward a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
Best of luck!
Tom and Lorraine
My Promise Meetings by Cameron Crouse, age 7 Alabama
On my Promise to Remember Me Meetings I met with Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Congressman Artur Davis. (D-7-AL) I went with my Mom and my friends. When I met with Rep. Davis I took him my Walk to Cure Diabetes Cameron's Crew Shirt and the blue CURE diabetes bracelet. I wrote him a letter that said I've had diabetes for five years. In person I thanked him for helping to cure diabetes. He said he would work hard for legislation that would help cure diabetes. He also told me that in my lifetime we would cure diabetes. I liked meeting with Congressman Davis.
When I met Senator Shelby I also took him a Cameron's Crew walk shirt, a school picture, and a CURE diabetes bracelet. There were other kids at the meeting who had diabetes. Senator Shelby said he was glad to be able to help. He thanked me for coming to meet him and for fighting for a cure.
I had fun meeting with my legislators about curing diabetes. I hope that diabetes gets cured in my lifetime. I feel good to know that I helped.
During Diabetes awareness month Elliott Yamin, International
Celebrity Advocate Co-Chair for the Promise Campaign, took your questions relating to his life with diabetes. Below are the five most popular questions he received along with his answers.
Thanks for participating!
1. How do you maintain your blood sugars with the stress of touring and
having a hectic schedule?
Well, before I had diabetes I never really gave a lot of thought to what I was eating or when and how I was exercising. I ate what I liked and played the sports I liked. After diabetes came along, it took me a while to realize I had to really think over even the simplest of days. So you can imagine how complicated planning days on tour can be. (I am kind of laughing now because planning is not a word you can use easily on tour). The pump has been a big help, since it gives me more flexibility. But even with a pump, I need to make sure I eat the right amounts and at the right time and I know what is going on in my body. That means trying to plan meals, always carrying snacks and checking, checking, checking. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say I know I’ll be doing a public appearance at around noon. It should take a half hour. So I check just before it and figure I’ll be done in time for lunch. But then things get behind. All of a sudden I need food (and anyone with diabetes knows that feeling!) and I’m surrounded by fans, who are not expecting me to run off and eat lunch. So a better choice is to think ahead. Eat before, know I have some “room to spare” with my numbers and then check again when I’m done. Stress and excitement can be an interesting challenge too.
2. When you were growing up was it difficult to always have tight control
of your blood sugar?
It was, especially socially when I was younger. I would forget about
it and I made some diabetes choices that were not the best. I’m sure part of it was growing, but another part was just not wanting to be a part of it. But I finally came to a time when I realized that so long as I did what I had to: check, bolus and recheck (and I’m not saying that is easy), I’d be okay. I try to remember that every day.
3. Were you ever embarrassed about having diabetes?
Yes, I was mainly concerned about people treating me differently or
like a charity
case. I did not want to burden people with my problems either.
It wasn’t about people thinking “Oh he ate wrong and now he has diabetes,” although I know a lot of people with diabetes hear that. It was more about: I want to just be the same as everyone else, and not have everyone worrying about me or thinking about what I should or should not be eating or doing. Eventually, you realize most people think those things simply because they care about you. Once I realized that, I relaxed about it more.
4. Do you ever get low during a performance and if so how do you treat
it?
Yes. I did get extremely low once recently at a show. I was performing in
Vancouver and got very light headed. I flagged my manager to grab me a
regular Pepsi to boost me. It was the first time that had ever happened so it
was a bit scary.
I am always sure to have something – any kind of fast acting and easy to gulp or swallow carb – nearby on stage at all times. That way, I can take action the moment I feel the low coming on and most times, without even stopping the show. Everyone with diabetes should do the same thing really: if you are playing a sport or in a class or just out hanging around. But I will say this: if you ever don’t feel better right away, you MUST stop what you are doing. It would be more important for me to take a quick break and stay safe than to end up in an emergency situation. I know my fans would understand, and so would your friends.
5. How has diabetes changed your life?
It has made me a stronger person, more responsible, and it has made me
healthier in a sense that my life depends on me taking better care of
myself. It has made me more active in the world as well. If you told me 10 years ago I’d be meeting with Senators and Congressmen in Washington or helping out at the United Nations I would have said you were crazy. But I am doing that now. My career allows me to be heard, and I have been lucky enough to learn that I can use that to help not just me, but so many. I think everyone with diabetes should realize that: you have a story to be told and a voice that needs to be heard. And you can help others. I want a cure, but I have to say, learning that has kind of been a gift.
Tom and Lorraine discuss the upcoming Columbus Day congressional recess.
An update from your Promise Campaign Volunteer Co-chairs, Lorraine Stiehl and Tom Glass.
Getting down to business...building a promise
Tom Glass
Even though the PRMC campaign officially began only two weeks ago, the momentum for the program has been building quickly! At least 25 legislator meetings have already been scheduled, quickly moving us in the right direction towards our goal of 400 legislator meetings by May of 2008.