‘Casablanca’ bash to aid fight against juvenile diabetes

Spend ‘A Night in Casablanca,’ and raise money to help find a cure for juvenile diabetes.

By: Josh Appelbaum
   Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, there’s a Cranbury couple who wants you to walk into theirs.
   "A Night in Casablanca" will be a dress-up affair with cocktails, gourmet food and dancing, all for a good cause: finding a cure for juvenile diabetes.
   On Saturday, Feb. 5, The Pines Manor in Edison will be transformed for one night only into a Jersey "Rick’s Café Americain."
   Clare and Herm Cukier of Perrine Lane are hosting the charity event to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Their 8-year-old daughter, Ashley, was diagnosed with child-onset Type I diabetes six years ago and the family has been coping with the illness ever since. They have become lobbyists for research to find a cure.
   "It’s a great night out for a good cause and the response has so far been amazing," Ms. Cukier said. "There is something that appeals to everyone from all age groups."
   Pines Manor proprietor Constantine Katsifis is donating the space and a disc jockey will be providing services free of charge for the event, which runs from 7 p.m. to midnight.
   Cranbury restaurants Hannah and Mason’s, the Cranbury Inn and Cranbury Gourmet Gift Shop will donate appetizers, main dishes and desserts. Tickets for the event are $75 dollars, with all proceeds going to the JDRF, and according to Ms. Cukier, are selling quickly.
   Ashley, a second-grader at Cranbury School, is a JDRF youth advocate, promoting the importance of stem cell research to find a diabetes cure, and met New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg last year to express the needs for increased research funding from the federal government.
   She has helped with fund-raising drives for the research foundation, and her mother said Cranbury has been overwhelmingly supportive.
   "The townspeople have really rallied around Ashley and the cause. The group from Cranbury that came to the Walk to Cure Diabetes was the largest," Ms. Cukier said.
   The Cukiers’ prior successful fund-raising efforts prompted them to explore ways to involve more participants and raise more money for diabetes research.
   "Our motto is that insulin is not a cure," Ms. Cukier said. "We’ve been selling the type of bracelets Lance Armstrong initiated with that phrase."
   Mr. Cukier, who is employed by the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb and works at improving the lives of those with diabetes, is also a board member at the JDRF.
   His involvement with the organization is the continuation of efforts begun by the Cukiers to advocate for a diabetes cure shortly after Ashley’s diagnosis.
   "Ever since Ashley was diagnosed, we’ve tried to do everything to fund research. This year, we’ve bumped up our level of commitment and activity by fund-raising throughout the year," Ms. Cukier said.
   Living with diabetes is challenging for both Ashley and her family. Although Ashley’s younger brother, Alex, 4, shows no signs of juvenile diabetes and neither Ms. Cukier nor her husband has the disease, the family has had to adjust its way of life.
   Ashley has received over 8,000 insulin injections since she was diagnosed, taking three each day and pricks her finger eight times a day and during the night to gauge glucose levels. High glucose levels produce a diabetic reaction such as seizures and coma, while lows levels can result in hypoglycemic reactions such as irritability, as well as long-term effects.
   She also has an emergency stash of food for diabetic emergencies and is closely monitored at school. Ms. Cukier said the youngster is an otherwise healthy and active child.
   "She is a strong person, and she has the support of the community," Ms. Cukier said.
   Ms. Cukier stressed that her family’s efforts to raise funds for research were initiated by her own family’s dealings with juvenile diabetes, but said she hopes what results is a cure benefiting all diabetes sufferers.
   "We hope that someday other parents don’t have to be told their child has diabetes," Ms. Cukier said.
   For more information on A Night in Casablanca, call the Cukiers at (609) 409-7591.