A dedicated group of Princeton-area parents and children are presenting the inaugural Juvenile Diabetes Golf & Tennis Open on June 18 at Greenacres Country Club in Lawrence. The event will bring together friends, families and kids to raise money in the fight against juvenile diabetes.
Two families the Fines and the Blicks have joined together to co-chair the event, which will benefit the "Brotherly Love" walk team, established by Daniel Fine in 2004 when his younger brother, Jake, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The Blick family also created a walk team in honor of their niece, Gerri, who was diagnosed in 2002.
The event will begin with golf and tennis tournaments running simultaneously, followed by a Chinese Raffle/Silent Auction. Will Cross, a 39-year-old expedition leader and world-class athlete, who has had diabetes for 30 years, will speak. He recently became the first American with Type 1 diabetes to climb Mount Everest and the highest peak on each continent, besides.
Typically, fundraisers of this kind are led by adults. In this instance, several children formed a youth committee, whose campaign is called "Dollars for Diabetes," so they can participate in the quest for the cure. These philanthropically minded kids are canvassing lacrosse fields, baseball diamonds, concession stands, retailers and other spots collecting dollars, knowing that every dollar they raise will be matched by an anonymous donor. The hope is to make "Dollars for Diabetes" a national program.
While this project was purely a community event at the outset, word spread and generous sponsors stepped forward, including NBC Universal, The Savino Financial Group/Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Novo Nordisk Inc., McCaffrey’s Market and Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.
The event will include an open bar, hors d’oeuvres and dinner, with more than $50,000 in prizes, including luxury trips to Aspen and the Caribbean, fine jewelry, watches and a custom pool table. To date, the golfing event is sold out and tennis is almost full. Registration can be made by writing to lyn.lanyi@nmfn.com. Donations can be mailed to Juvenile Diabetes Golf and Tennis Open, 731 Alexander Road, Suite 300, West Windsor 08540, Attn: Art Blick or Rick Fine.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation was founded in 1970 by parents of children with juvenile (Type 1) diabetes. It is one of the world’s leading nonprofit, nongovernmental resources of diabetes research.
On the Web: www.jdrf.org.
