In two weeks, Bernard Farrell will be riding in the Bike the Miles annual fundraiser to support Dr. Faustman's research to cure Type 1 diabetes. His participation is especially intrinsic because it is one day away from his 35th anniversary of becoming a Type 1 diabetic.

Bernard plans to raise $10,000 for Dr. Faustman's research. Last year he raised $7,500. The entire event raised a whopping $301,000! All of this funding is going toward the human trials to cure Type 1 diabetes. After discovering that the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas are capable of regeneration, Dr. Faustman now needs to test her treatment, already known to be safe in humans, to see if the effects are as positive as they were in the animal model.

It goes without say that this is terribly important for Bernard as much as it is for every man, woman and child touched by Type 1 diabetes. Bike the Miles is an annual event that was started by Susan Root and Jacqueline Fusco in 2004. Both, Susan and Jacqueline, have children who are Type 1 diabetics. Please visit Bernard's site to support his ride and the drive to cure Type 1 diabetes!

I realize Halloween isn't even upon us, but if you're one of those organized early holiday shoppers consider the American Diabetes Association Gift of Hope. Every penny of profit from this gift catalog funds diabetes research. You're spending your money on a gift and research for a cure. Choose from over 30 holiday cards, a 2008 calendar and 40 gifts. Hmmm ... the Striped Barnstorm Frame caught my eye.

Gift of Hope has been around since 1971, when a group of Minneapolis-area parents of children with diabetes started selling holiday cards to raise money for diabetes research. Now under the American Diabetes Association (ADA) name, Gift of Hope has raised over $22 million to date.

If you're a budding artist, check out ADA Gift of Hope's 2008 Holiday Art Search. Artwork must be created by or dedicated to a person with diabetes. Winning entries are used to produce the holiday cards and gifts. Deadline is November 1, 2007.

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with David Kliff, of Diabetic Investor. When diabetes came knocking on David's door - he took the higher road, literally, and many would agree he has made the most of it.

David created Diabetic Investor to share his opinion as a leading authority on the business of diabetes from the unique perspective of a diabetic. Along the way he has gained interest in leading-edge technologies and breakthrough medicines to enhance the treatment of diabetes. His research and his craft for controlling his diabetes has significantly impacted his health for the best - and it keeps getting better.

David is now a marathon runner. His training efforts have resulted in a resounding 45 pound weight loss, cutting his insulin dose substantially, and improving his overall health. He launched a blog to promote his participation in the New York City Marathon this November. Checkout Dave's Run for Diabetes, and show your support for his efforts to go the distance for diabetes - all 26.2 miles!

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recently announced, Step Up To Fight Diabetes, a unique, new fundraiser. Up to 1,000 participants will pledge to raise a minimum of $1,000 in sponsorships as they walk 10 miles across Philadelphia, stepping up and down 25 staircases along the way. The ADA chose Philly as its inaugural event city due to its historic staircases (Rocky, Rocky!), and the city's dedication to improving health. The event will be held October 20, 2007.

Walkers will pass Independence Park, City Hall, even head down the Schuylkill River path to the Philadephia Art Museum. I was enamored by the Schuylkill's winding beauty my very first visit to Philly. During each subsequent trip (I have family there), I have always hiked or jogged along the river.

Through monies raised, the ADA will fight the rise of diabetes nationwide through awareness, information and advocacy. Participants will be inspired to challenge themselves physically -- becoming role models for the next generation. In fact, a 12-week training program just started August 4, so now is the time to sign up and join this first-ever fundraiser. Check out the ADA's Step Up To Fight Diabetes website -- you can register, start/join a team, sponsor or be a part of it all by volunteering. The site also offers comprehensive support to help you raise the $1,000 in sponsorships.

Walking epitomizes an ideal activity to prevent type 2 diabetes, and can improve the health of an estimated 21 million Americans with the disease. This is one smart event with potential to raise serious dollars. If Step Up To Fight Diabetes comes to Chicago, I will walk.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Capitol Chapter has become the only JDRF chapter in the country to put a new spin on fundraising. And what better place to do it than Washington? The Chapter is currently planning the second annual Spin to Win fundraiser for next fall.

A proven success with JDRF's Canadian chapter, it is the organization's newest event -- an innovative, high-energy, outdoor event where participants from a variety of local industries pedal to a fast-paced musical beat for 8 minutes in a race to see who can rack up the most mileage and the most money for diabetes research. Each spinner is asked to raise at least $150.

Last year's inaugural event raised more than $75,000 and members of Congress, athletes, and TV personalities were among the participants. The Chapter is looking to double the amount raised this year.

This year's fundraiser will take place Thursday, October 18 at the old DC Convention Center site and involve five-person teams from the Washington business community who have raised money for a cure for diabetes. Visit the Spin to Win web page or call the JDRF office at 202.465.4122 for more information about the 2007 Spin to Win.

Do you or a loved one have diabetes? Are you a healthcare professional caring for people with diabetes? Living with the disease or caring for a person with diabetes is an up and down journey. Inspired by Diabetes is a global campaign asking all those impacted by diabetes to share their story.

The campaign's Creative Expressions Competition just opened to the world on June 21, and is accepting creative entries through January 31, 2008. If you have a creative bent, tell your story through a short essay or narrative; up to three photographs; an original drawing/painting or musical score.

Entries will be judged across category, art type and age group, starting as young as age five. The Grand Prize Winner across each category will win a $5,000 donation to the charity of their choice, a trophy and a paid trip for two to the media announcement of the winners and the global exhibition. I wish I could tell you the exhibition is planned for an exotic location, but it hasn't been announced, yet!

Inspired by Diabetes, a collaboration between Eli Lilly and the International Diabetes Federation's Unite for Diabetes Initiative, is bringing those close to the disease together to try and raise awareness of the global burden of diabetes. All entrants will receive two blue circle pins, the global symbol of diabetes. I had never heard of the blue circle before, this is one pin I would like to sport. Perhaps the blue circle will become as powerful and recognizable as the beautiful pink ribbon for cancer awareness.

I once owned a racing bike. I could lift that gorgeous white Bianchi with my little finger. I bought it in anticipation of training and entering Ride The Rockies, a five day cycle sojourn through Colorado in the summer of 1998. I am a sports nut, a rockclimber, a backpacker... but prior to Ride The Rockies, the longest cross-country cycling I ever did was a one-hour stretch in a mini-triathlon.

My Ride the Rockies experience was unforgettable. A novice from Chicago flatlands, I had never biked more than 40 miles in one stretch. Suddenly I was averaging 65 miles a day over multiple mountain summits. The race was breathtakingly beautiful and miserably horrendous. Often in painful despair chugging up those mountains, my sitting bones have never been the same. I completed the mileage each day near dead-last, except for the ultra-hot 100+ mile day when I bonked (lost all energy reserves) at mile 93 and had to take the 'ride of shame' in a shuttle van the rest of the way. I should not have eaten those dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies locals were selling out of a big red cooler for $.25 each. I still blame the zero-protein cookies for my athletic failure, along with an undiagnosed ACL tear in my left knee which left me one-legged most of the trip. It just couldn't have been me. But Ride The Rockies is the only event I have declared I will never do again. Humbled, I sold the bike.

So my interest piqued when a reader of The Diabetes Blog sent me the news (thank you!) Team Type 1 (TT1) just won the Race Across America 2007 (RAAM) in the Corporate Challenge category. Started in 1982, RAAM is the longest ultra-distance bicycle race in the world. Cyclists hit the pedal on the West Coast and hit the brakes somewhere on the East Coast, covering over 3,000 grueling miles. TT1 is an eight-person corporate cycling team comprised of cyclists with type 1 diabetes. Founded in 2004 by Phil Southerland (diabetic since 7 months) and Joe Eldridge (diabetic since 14 years), TT1 raises both money for diabetes research and awareness for young diabetics denied health insurance for a "pre-existing" condition. You can make a donation right on their website.

Don't miss TT1's A1C Challenge, where they teach you how to strive for a 6.5 A1C, eliminating long-term complications of diabetes. The TT1 2007 Blog has a slew of photos. TT1 took it all in 2006, and just won again in 2007 -- anything is possible with type 1 diabetes.

The Wall Street Journal posted an interesting story about a man who needed a drug to treat his ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. He could not get the funding for a large scale trial to approve the drug. I empathize, completely! See that picture of the Hulk? That's me. I'm angry. You won't like me when I'm angry.

As a type 1 diabetic, my concern for improving the lives of people affected by diabetes involves preventing and reversing the complications associated with the disease. The American Diabetes Association states the same somewhere in their mission statement. Ok ADA, put MY money where YOUR 501(C)3 is!!

When I called the American Diabetes Association and shared my excitement for the C-peptide treatment in human trials (in Sweden) reversing type 1 diabetic complications - I was floored when I heard their response.

Allie B: Can the American Diabetes Association please encourage a big pharmaceutical company to sponsor these trials here in the United States? The results in Sweden have conclusively shown reversal of complications associated with type 1 diabetes.

Mat P at the American Diabetes Association: The topic of C-peptide is very sexy in scientific forums. BUT - we don't like to tell big pharmaceutical companies what to do with their money because we don't like them to tell us what to do with ours.

Allie B (in my head): WHAT THE F%^&*)(*&^%$F do you DO as an organization to improve the lives of people affected by diabetes if you are not going to push for trials to prevent and arrest complications associated with the disease?

I'm afraid the American Diabetes Association and I do not share the same goals any longer. It was a long marriage, over 21 years - but I want a divorce. The largest diabetic organization in the United States is not willing to assist in getting a trial underway to prevent and reverse complications that could affect 2 million type 1 diabetics and between 2 and 4 million type 2 diabetics injecting insulin (without C-Peptide).

I didn't feel this way until I realized how disconnected their perception of diabetes is from the reality of the disease. What do you think?

Bravo! Brands have teamed-up with the Diabetes Research Foundation again in a partnership that will help raise funds for diabetes research. Here's what their doing: Bravo! Brands have expanded their already existing relationship with DRI by offering two more products that are deemed healthy for most people with diabetes, or for people who simply wish to reduce their carb and caloric intake.

Bravo! Brands already offers Slim Slammers, a flavored milk beverage, as a healthy alternative to other flavored milks, and it has now had the DRI logo on it for over two years. Now, Bravo! Brands has announced that the following products will also be part of the partnership and shall bear the DRI logo:

~ 3 Musketeers Slammers Chocolate Milk: It's 99 percent fat-free, so it's already off to a good start. And, it's taste is that of, you guessed it, a Three Musketeers Bar. Also not a bad thing. Plus, it has half the carbs of other chocolate milk brands and 63 percent less fat than whole milk.

~ Bravo! Blenders: This if for people who are Lactose Intolerant, as opposed to people who have the patience to deal with it ;) It is a meal replacement beverage that comes in four flavors, and it has fewer calories than many popular beverages of its kind. In addition, it's fortified with extra vitamins and minerals, not to mention that it has 25 percent more protein than regular milk.

As I mentioned in a post not too long ago, it is corporate funding of this kind that helps to an extent that a collection of individual donations could only hope to. In fact, another one that comes to mind is Barbersol's partnership with the JDRF (look for cans of Barbersol featuring Olympic Swimmer Gary Hall).

Bravo to all of you.

With 2007 only a day away, there is little time left to come up with some New Year's resolutions if you haven't already. For many, January 1st represents a new beginning of sorts, an opportunity to start their lives off fresh all over again. For others, it simply represents a hangover and a pounding headache. But, for a very rare breed, it means swimming in 45 degree water, this year in efforts to raise money for diabetes research and education.

Held by the Atlantic General Hospital in Ocean City, Maryland, this year marks the 13th time 400-500 people take the plunge for this annual fundraiser. Last year alone, about $60,000 was raised for AGH, and over $750,000 has been raised since the inception of the Annual Penguin Swim. People of all ages participate in this event, and many more watch comfortably from the shore. Much like charity road races, individual swimmers and teams of swimmers receive sponsorship for their efforts from friends and colleagues.

The event this year will again take place on the beach side of the Princess Royale hotel on 91st Street in Ocean City, MD. Registration begins at noon, and swimmers are in the water by 1pm. So, if you happen to be in the area, and are feeling a little crazy/compassionate, maybe this can be your way of starting off the New Year right.

We've all heard people say that "even donating a little sure can help a lot." True. Very true, in fact. Be that as it may, a donation goal that can sometimes take hundreds -- if not thousands -- of individual donations to reach can be helped enormously by the charity of large corporations. In one of the latest examples of such generosity, the JDRF has teamed up with two major companies, the Ford Motor Company/Hot Rods & Horsepower, LLC and Blistex, to raise funds for diabetes research.

For the former, a joint fund raising initiative by Ford and Hot Rods & Horsepower, 100 limited edition, 75th anniversary 1932 Dearborn Deuce roadsters will be manufactured for $200,000 each. The first of these vehicles to be sold will have its full sale value donated to JDRF. Then, on top of that, a second vehicle will be auctioned off at the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction, again with all proceeds being donated to JDRF.

As for the latter, the Blistex company, an agreement has been made (not that there was ever any disagreement) between JDRF and this popular chapstick company with respect to Blistex's latest product, "Gentle Sense." Based on said agreement, Blistex will donate 25 cents each time a specially marked package of "Gentle Sense" is sold, with a minimum donation of $100,000 to JDRF during fiscal year 2007.

All good news. That's what we like.

I'm the lady and the Lobster is brought to us by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. On Friday, December 1, 2006 there will be a Lobster Bash held in Babylon, NY. The event will take place at the Venetian Yacht Club. I would like to find 9 guests to join me. The table costs $1,000, so it will cost $100 a person - the balance of $55 is fully tax deductible.

I'll pay for my ticket. I'm inviting anybody within a convenient distance to join me. Come to the event, meet me, and tell me what's on your mind. Oh, and if none of that wets your whistle, maybe this will excite you: open bar, silent auction, and dancing. I've been told I dance like Elane Benes from Seinfeld. It's not true. I don't think so, anyway.

Ladies and Gentleman please don't send me out to the wolves in the CraigsList platonic neighborhood. Yes, I've been known to dabble in the singles scene, shamelessly. This is a different call to action. This is for philanthropy, supporting the research efforts of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Lobster buffet, open bar, and good times. Need a girl ask for a more socially-rounded experience? You are all cordially invited to attend! Leave me feedback or email if you would like further details.