Mia’s Militia, our JDRF walk team, started in 2012 almost exactly a year after my daughter Mia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) at age 7. We all have our stories, don’t we? We felt helpless and wanted to do something… Raising money to find a cure and bringing awareness to our friends and family was the “something”. With the support of JDRF and friends and family we were able to find a new normal. We put our feelings of helplessness into raising money with the hope that there would be advances in the technologies that support Mia’s health and of course the never-ending hope for a cure. We held bake sales, we had a night to support JDRF at a local venue with an auction, raffle, food and a band, and countless other fundraising activities. With the generous support of our friends and family, the first year we walked we raised more than $15,000 and we were named Rookie of the Year team. I gave a speech at the event at Fenway where we received our award. It was truly an honor.

In 2017 we received the news that our friend’s daughter, Rosie, was diagnosed with T1D. Although this wasn’t good news, we were excited to have Rosie and her family join our team and we renamed ourselves Medway’s T1D Militia. New shirts and more friends!

Every year we have a tradition. We meet up at our house to start the day. We have donuts and coffee donated by our local Dunkin’ Donuts and then we get on a rented school bus and head down to the DCR Hatch Shell. There is a lot of energy in that bus. We have around 50 people each year walk with us. It’s so awesome to see all our friends and family join in wearing our team t-shirt. Every year I get tears in my eyes from the support of our friends and family. I know that the money we are raising and the time we are spending is so worth it. Not only for JDRF, but for my daughter Mia and my family. Having this day each year to take a moment and reflect on the year, the hardships we had faced, and our accomplishments is important. As you all very well know, having T1D is not easy but, on this day, we choose to celebrate together with those that have supported us.

We hope that you will join us at a JDRF One Walk near you this fall. Grab friends, family, teammates, and neighbors, build a team, design a shirt, have some fun, and help us step closer to a cure.

Sincerely,

Lisa Hsieh
Lisa Hsieh, Co-Captain of Boston Walk Team, Medway T1D Militia

P.S. To learn more and register, visit walk.jdrf.org or contact the chapter office at  greaternewengland@jdrf.org.