On Sunday, October 16, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. at 222 E Avenue, 16-year olds Dominic DeNardi and Jake Lamb will host their Ninth Annual Lemonade Stand to raise funds for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), a research-focused non-profit charity dedicated to improving the lives of and finding a cure for those living with Type 1 Diabetes. This year the boys hope to raise more than $6,500 toward finding a cure for the disease Jake has had since he was 20 months old. About three million children and adults nationwide have type 1 diabetes, and many in the Coronado community live with the disease: 13 students in the Coronado Unified School district have Type 1, as do many adults in our community.
Type 1 Diabetes is not caused by eating too much candy or junk food, and a person cannot catch diabetes from a person with Type 1 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune disease in which the immune system – for reasons unknown – attacks the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. Without insulin, the body is unable to transfer glucose into the body’s organs and muscles to sustain life. Because people with type 1 diabetes do not produce insulin on their own, they must get their insulin through injections every day, several times each day, or through an insulin pump. With Type 1 Diabetes, what most of us take for granted as an automatic body process becomes a manual process that needs to be constantly monitored and controlled. Successfully managing the insulin life-support system is both complicated and unforgiving. On the one hand, too much insulin can result in extremely low blood sugar that causes a person to pass out or go into a seizure. On the other hand, too little insulin – resulting in high blood sugar – over time can lead to serious complications including heart disease, nerve damage, kidney disease, stroke, high blood pressure, peripheral arterial disease, and eye problems. For a thorough overview of what type 1 diabetes is, how it influences the lives of people with the disease, and to see an example of one promising JDRF-funded line of research, watch this video:
Managing Type 1 involves finger pricks using small lancets to check blood glucose levels (Jake has had over 54,000 finger pricks since diagnosis!), careful tracking of all carbohydrates eaten, and injecting doses of insulin with all meals, snacks, and exercise. Constantly means just that – all day and night, every day of every month of every year for the rest of a person’s life – type 1 diabetes never takes a day off.
To better manage his diabetes, Jake now wears an external insulin pump that constantly pumps insulin into his body, and a continuous glucose monitor that provides blood glucose readings every five minutes. Both of these life-improving technologies are available, in part, due to JDRF-funded research made possible by thousands of generous donors including the incredible supporters who come out to Jake and Dominic’s Lemonade Stand every year.
The Lemonade Stand has grown each year with many Coronado families jumping in to support the boys’ fundraising efforts and coming out to enjoy fresh lemonade and baked goods. Leading up to the day of the event, Dom and Jake will squeeze a couple of gallons of juice from fresh lemons they have picked from Grandma and Grandpa DeNardi’s lemon trees and other neighbors’ yards. While the boys plan the event, the lemonade stand is a DeNardi/Lamb family effort. Dominic’s parents, Chris and Nancy, sister Izzy, and Grandma Judy, along with friends, bake and donate delicious homemade treats, some with a healthy theme (be sure to check out Chris’ famous gluten-free and sugar-free cookies!). In particular, Dominic’s grandparents Judy and Harry DeNardi, Myron Hunt, and Aunt Dana DeNardi are generous participants each year. On the day of the lemonade stand, the boys, with help from their families, transform the Lambs front yard into a large lemonade stand complete with a picnic-like area where friends and neighbors can meet and enjoy a refreshing cup of lemonade and a snack while supporting Dominic and Jake’s effort to help find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. To see a student-produced video of last year’s lemonade stand (thank you, KCMS from Coronado Middle School), click HERE.
So many in the Coronado community will benefit from a cure for this disease. The disease not only affects those who live with the disease, but also that person’s immediate and extended family, friends, teachers, classmates, caregivers, neighbors, and teammates. Over the past 8 years, the boys have raised almost $50,000 for JDRF to help researchers find a cure for type 1 diabetes, thanks to the incredible generosity of the Coronado community! The boys hope to see you on October 16, any time from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm, at 222 E Avenue. Everyone who donates $20 or more to JDRF will be entered into a raffle to win pairs of tickets to see the exciting (and sold out) Aztecs Men’s Basketball team or the mighty 4-1 Aztecs Football team play. If you cannot attend but would like to donate, you are welcome to mail a check (payable to JDRF) to 222 E Ave, 92118 or you can donate at http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/JakeDom
