During the holiday season we reflect on the success our donors, volunteers, advocates, and supporters made possible. You stepped up as we returned to in-person events and helped us to advance JDRF’s mission. We would like to take this moment to say THANK YOU to our dedicated and passionate community for all that you do to help us make progress possible for everyone living with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Offering newly diagnosed families and individuals care kits that include useful resources and educational materials to help with their T1D journey, the Bag of Hope is for children under age 11; the Teen No Limits care kit is for youth ages 12-17; and the Adult No Limits care kit is for those age 18 and older. In 2022 the chapter delivered a total of 302 newly diagnosed care kits to families and individuals in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. We also established partnerships with the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, and the Joslin Diabetes Center to distribute these newly diagnosed care kits on site at their clinics.

Additionally JDRF offers the opportunity for newly diagnosed families and individuals to build relationships with Outreach Volunteers, who provide additional resources and support from their personal experiences. Through our T1D Connections program we connected 92 requestors with Outreach Volunteers.

Our Chats from Home program—informal virtual gatherings for individuals and families in Greater New England—continued this year. These meetings are organized by age level for parents and caregivers to connect with others in a similar stage. There is also a group for adults living with T1D! While some participants are only a few weeks in to their T1D journey, others have several decades of experience. We are grateful to all of our participants who have joined us so far for their willingness to share their stories and offer support to their community. Thank you to our volunteers, Brian Colton and Cathy Walter, for hosting and selecting guest speakers to join our Chats.

Thank you to our volunteer sub-committee, Crista Bode, Shari Cashman, Kristine Cauti, Danielle King, Jaleen Siekman, and Cathy Walter, for organizing three informative sessions throughout the year for school health teams. We encourage you to share our webinar recordings with school nurses in your community and other members of the school health team, including principals, guidance counselors, coaches, psychologists, and social workers.  The sub-committee also had the opportunity to join school nurse conferences in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, connecting with more than 500 school nurses.

Past Webinars:

• Supporting Children with Type 1 Diabetes, Learning Disabilities, and Psychosocial Challenges (February 15)
• Current Trends in Diabetes Technology (April 12)
• Type 1 Diabetes in School Practical Solutions for Best Practice (October 17)

Save the date for our upcoming webinar on “Supporting Students with Type 1 Diabetes and their Mental Wellness” on February 7, 2023. Learn more at jdrf.org/greaternewengland/p/virtual-education-series.

In March, JDRF began hosting JDRF’s TypeOneNation Virtual Summit, national’s year-long program, offering one educational session the first Thursday of every month (first Wednesday of every month in Spanish) to help you and your loved ones live well with T1D. Experts from across the country joined us each month to share their knowledge on important topics that affect those of us living with or caring for someone with T1D.

Then in April, we returned for our first in-person event of the year, our TypeOneNation Summit Boston at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.  More than 230 attendees joined us from across Greater New England. Thank you to all of our speakers, volunteers, sponsors, and attendees who joined us at the event!

Our Mission Address, “Driving Progress in Research and Advocacy”, was presented by Jaime A. Giraldo, Ph.D., Associate Director, Research Department, JDRF, and Carla Falasco, Director, Grassroots Advocacy, JDRF. Our Keynote Address, “The Happiness Minority”, was presented by Christina Martin, Professional Dancer, Motivational Speaker, American Ninja Warrior, Executive Director of the Type Zero Foundation, and Fitness Trainer, Living with T1D since age 13. Other educational sessions included: “Improving Lives and Accelerating Cures”, “Practical Tips for Controlling T1D During and After Exercise”, “Real Talk with Teens”, “Strong Families: Growing Up with T1D”, “Supporting Your Student with T1D: A Guide to 504 Plans and Considerations to Set Your Child Up for Success at School”, and “T1D in Adulthood”.

Save the date for next year’s summit on Saturday, March 25, 2023 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.

The 2022 Boston Marathon® was back to the historic spring season and was held on Monday, April 18. JDRF was once again proud to be an official Partner of John Hancock in the Marathon Non-Profit Program. Special thanks and congratulations to our eight Team JDRF runners who raised more than $190,000 for JDRF’s mission!

• Benjamin Jones
• Julianna Kurtz
• Addie Lucas
• Kendyl Murtaugh
• Chris Ronzio
• Neil Wallack
• Scott Wegrzyn
• Andrew Winter

We also extend our deepest appreciation to our longtime volunteer coaches, Mary Tolland and Neil Wallack, for imparting their wisdom and experience, and supporting our runners through every step as they trained for the 26.2-mile course.

On Saturday, May 7, more than 700 guests joined us at the Boston Marriott Copley Place and virtually throughout the world for the 40th Annual JDRF Greater New England Gala—One Night. This exceptional evening celebrated the collective efforts of the entire community to raise $2.2 million for T1D research! It was incredible to bring the entire chapter footprint together for this memorable return to the ballroom. The energy and enthusiasm felt throughout the night was palpable, and we are so grateful to all of our incredible sponsors, families, and friends of JDRF for their generosity.

Hosted by our outstanding emcees, Kevin Lemanowicz and Mark Ockerbloom of Boston 25 News, JDRF Greater New England was privileged to recognize this year’s honorees, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Douglas Melton, Ph.D. and Gail O’Keefe, for their passion, support, and steadfast commitment to JDRF’s mission. Their tremendous work and unwavering devotion to being the momentum, the progress, and one day, the cure, inspires us all. We are truly grateful to this year’s inspiring Fund A Cure Speaker, Tommy Kelley, for sharing his story, and for evoking generosity and hope that evening and beyond.

The evening would not have been possible without the astounding support of our JDRF partners. We are so thankful for the ongoing commitment of our Signature Sponsor, Bain Capital Community Partnership, and to all our incredible sponsors. We offer very special thanks to our extraordinary One Night Gala Committee led by Gala Chair, Jaleen Siekman, Procurement Chair, Dawn McGrew, Marketing and Communications Chair, Jamie O’Riordan, Guest Experience Chair, Sherri Panaro for your remarkable efforts in making the evening both successful and memorable; our Corporate Development Committee, led by Chair, Jon Freni, for your steadfast commitment to engaging generosity through our corporate partners; and to the Greater New England Community Board, led by President, Colin Motley, for your leadership and encouragement throughout the year. Many thanks to Brian Smith and his talented team for producing the beautiful videos and for always bringing your unparalleled talent and passion to this event! Lastly, thank you to the 80+ event volunteers who assisted the JDRF Greater New England staff and Gala Committee leading up to, during, and following the event. Photos from the evening, captured by Kevin Trimmer Photography, may be viewed by visiting http://kevintrimmer.instaproofs.com/JDRF-Boston-Gala-2022. We are truly grateful to everyone who provided support, energy, and time to ensure this year’s return to the ballroom was a successful one!

There are no days off for people living with T1D and from June 15-19, a team of runners from across the country participated in the 365: No Days Off for T1D event to support JDRF. 365 days of the year T1Ds and their family members are focused on staying healthy while living with T1D. To recognize this, JDRF challenged participants to take no days off from running, walking, or staying active every day during the five-day challenge. Thanks to Scott Desatnick and Steven Lowry, the two participants from our chapter who raised $365 toward this effort!

On Monday, July 18, more than 250 golfers, sponsors, and volunteers joined us as we came together for the 21st Annual JDRF Tee Up to Cure Diabetes Golf Classic and raised a record-breaking $183,000! We are so grateful to all of our extraordinary sponsors, families, and friends of JDRF for your generosity and ongoing commitment to our mission. It was incredible to see everyone out on the course and not even the rainy weather for the second year in a row stopped us from having a memorable and successful day at Quidnessett Country Club! Players enjoyed on-course games, raffles, and the silent auction. The event featured an exciting Meet or Beat the Pro, Hole-in-One contest, and various treats from our generous Snack Hole Sponsors.

We are so thankful for the ongoing commitment of our Presenting Sponsor, NEFCO Fire Investigations, and to all our incredible sponsors and in-kind supporters. We offer very special thanks to our emcee for the evening, Nick Coit of ABC 6, the extraordinary Tee Up to Cure Diabetes Golf Committee, led by Golf Chair, Chris Librizzi, Fund A Cure Speaker, Zach Librizzi, Procurement Chair, Michelle LeBeau, and our amazing event volunteers. We are truly grateful for their support, energy, and time to ensure this year’s tournament was a huge success!

The 50th running of the ASICS Falmouth Road Race took place on Sunday, August 21. JDRF was one of the charities who participated in the Numbers for Nonprofits program. Thank you to our six runners who raised more than $16,000 for Team JDRF!

• Nicole Holt
• Kathleen Keohane Hines
• Mary Lee Mastroianni
• Laura Randall
• Nicole Reilly
• Bridget Robinson

We are truly grateful to have welcomed back both team Agony of Duhfeet and team Sistas with Blistas to the 2022 Ragnar Reach the Beach Relay. The teams started their adventure in Bretton Woods, NH on Friday, September 16 and finished the race at Hampton Beach, NH on Saturday, September 17.

Team Sistas with Blistas has been participating in the relay since 2010 and has been raising funds for JDRF’s mission since 2016. In 2022, Sistas with Blistas raised more than $7,000!

2023 Gala Honorees Liz Chang and Joe Wallace, captains, and team Agony of Duhfeet participated in their ninth running of the 200-mile relay and surpassed $1 million in cumulative fundraising for JDRF this year. Incredible! To date, Team Agony of Duhfeet has raised more than $112,000 for the 2022 race!

The return to our in-person JDRF One Walk in Boston, Northern New England, and Rhode Island was an incredible success this fall, as thousands of supporters and hundreds of volunteers came together as a community to celebrate, connect, and inspire hope! Teams had the option to Walk Your Way or join us at one of our three sites, where the energy was contagious. Across Greater New England we saw more than 5,000 walkers lace up their sneakers to support JDRF’s mission! A big thank you to this year’s Presenting Sponsor, Reliable Diabetes Care, who was present at all three of our sites. Lastly, thank you to all of our fundraisers, especially our Top 10 Teams, who have raised nearly $860,000. (Note: totals pulled 12/1/22.)

Boston:

1. ANNA’S ALL-STARS
2. Gracie’s Peeps
3. Newton Knocks Out T1D!!
4. Compass T1D Warriors
5. Team Noley B
6. Team Burrell
7. Team Vertex
8. TeamHunter
9. Team Jada
10. T1D Rollercoaster!

Northern New England:

1. Color ME Cured 2022
2. Let’s Dia-Beat-This
3. Osborne Sullivan United
4. Isabel’s Insulin Addicts
5. Pumped up!
6. Keira’s Krew
7. Abigail’s Avengers
8. Aubree’s T1D Army
9. Paynes & T1D Gains
10. SVR Strong

Rhode Island:

1. Mady’s mad-dogs
2. Awesome Annie!
3. Hannah’s Knights
4. Team Super Jack
5. Can’t DiaBEATus!
6. Team Quinnie Minnie
7. Ethan’s Adventure
8. CAM’S CREW
9. Sinead’s Team
10. TeamCurlyQ

Our deepest thanks to our One Walk Committee members, Crista Bode, David and Paula Boulanger, Brian Colton, Noah Gardner, Jason and Stacey Gay, Renee Masiello, Teresa Miller, Traci Pena, Sarah Polk, Mike Ravid, and Lysette Sola, for your steadfast dedication and passion for Walk!

We returned to the stunning roads, hills, and valleys of our destination events for the 2022 JDRF Ride! Whether you’re a beginner or expert rider, the experience is life changing. Our chapter team joined the unforgettable weekend Rides in Saratoga Springs, NY from September 8-11, Death Valley, CA from October 13-16, and Amelia Island, FL from December 1-4. We also had several riders take advantage of JDRF My Ride, where they participated anytime, anywhere.

Our 48 riders with Team Greater New England have raised more than $181,000 to date! Thank you to our Top 10 Riders. (Note: funds raised as of 11/28/22.)

1. Adrian Gonzalez | Logistics Leaders for T1D Cure
2. Micah Waldman
3. Brenda Morris | Team Jaden
4. Gregory Goulette
5. Leslie Gonzalez | Logistics Leaders for T1D Cure
6. Carol Harris
7. Jenny Monroe
8. Kelly White
9. Virginia Hughes
10. James English

In addition, members of Team Greater New England received special recognition at the Saratoga Ride:

• Team Logistics Leaders, led by Adrian Gonzalez, took home the Top Corporate Team Award.
• Noah and Ilana Brauner were presented the Junior Rider Jersey for being unstoppable siblings who will do anything for a cure for Noah and all those living with T1D.

Many thanks to our coaches Don Cummings, Frank Dougherty, and Cathy Ryan for their continued dedication and commitment to the Ride program!

Team JDRF runners experienced a magical weekend during runDisney events while helping to turn Type One into Type None. Our two 2022 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend participants, Carol Gray and Parker Slate, raised $770 for the race held from November 3-6. We also look forward to cheering on our runners who are participating in the 2023 Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend from January 4-8 and the 2023 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend from February 23-26.

National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM) kicked off with our inaugural Greater New England NDAM campaign where we highlighted storytellers and advocates who shared their experience with T1D. These individuals were featured on our social media channels as they shared their stories and fundraised for JDRF during the most crucial month of the year. Every dollar raised goes toward our mission to improve lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat T1D and its complications. Thank you to our storytellers and donors for helping us to move forward as 1 toward our goal by raising $7,735.

On World Diabetes Day, November 14, communities across the globe illuminated major landmarks in blue to raise awareness for type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Thank you to all of the local landmarks across the Greater New England area who were lit blue: Memorial Bridge (Portsmouth, NH/Kittery, ME), Boylston Tower and Plaza, Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, Longfellow Bridge (Boston), Kenneth F. Burns Memorial Bridge (Worcester, MA/Shrewsbury, MA), Fore River Bridge (Quincy, MA/Weymouth, MA), Gillette Stadium (Foxboro, MA), Patriot Place (Foxboro, MA), Sakonnet River Bridge (Tiverton, RI), and the Rhode Island State House! Special thanks to our local community for visiting the landmarks and sharing photos with our chapter!

We were thrilled to continue our partnership with the Rhode Island World Diabetes Day committee in 2022! This year’s festivities kicked off with a six-week Road to Wellness Challenge, encouraging Rhode Islanders with diabetes to participate in lectures, fitness classes, and social events state-wide. The challenge, which launched at JDRF’s 2022 One Walk, culminated in the Rhode Island World Diabetes Day Celebration, hosted by the Rhode Island Department of Health and State Representative Graze Diaz, on Monday, November 14. The event featured a keynote address from former NFL running back Otis Anderson and allowed Rhode Islanders living with both type 1 and type 2 to connect with peers and professional organizations, including JDRF!

The Greater New England community came together for countless community events this year. In February, children in kindergarten through fifth grade joined us for a virtual reading with Jennifer Frank, the author of “The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken”. The book is a Junior Library Guild selection, has a starred Kirkus Review, and was voted as one of the “Best Books of 2021 So Far” by Amazon Editors. The book is about appreciating what makes us each different and special. Others tested out their balance while supporting JDRF at our ice skating event at Patriot Place. In June, we were graced with a special appearance of our TypeOneNation Summit Boston Keynote Speaker, Christina Martin, for our virtual T1D Teen Talk. Next, the T1D community rallied all summer long at the local minor league baseball parks for our JDRF Summer Series. Then in the fall, families in Maine were able to meet others and enjoy a day of apple picking with JDRF and Maine P-PODs.

Lastly, thank you to all of our volunteers for their endless contributions over the year. From connecting with newly diagnosed families seeking a mentor, to requesting official proclamations from local governors for NDAM, to sharing your stories as our Cure Champions every month, to stewarding our corporate partners like Marshalls who has partnered with JDRF since 1994, to articulating the financial, medical and emotional costs of the disease with members of Congress during the Promise to Remember Me campaign and Government Days. You are a critical part of the strength of this community and help us make progress towards cures. We’re so grateful to have your incredibly generous support; we couldn’t do any of this without you.

This year, because of you… 

• A drug, Tzield™ (teplizumab-mzwv), the first disease-modifying therapy for individuals at-risk for developing T1D, was approved by the FDA and could delay the onset of T1D by nearly three years
• Everyone can now easily test the likelihood of developing T1D with T1Detect reducing the risk of DKA at diagnosis
• The T1D Index was launched, a first-of-its-kind data simulation tool that provides the most accurate and comprehensive global picture of T1D in history
• The JDRF-supported Civica Insulin Project is another ongoing effort to bring affordable insulin to the uninsured, producing biosimilar insulins for no more than $30 per vial starting in 2024
• The FDA authorized the Insulet Omnipod 5, the world’s first tubeless, wearable system, for children ages 2+

Sending all good wishes for a healthy, safe, and joyous holiday season for you and your loved ones. We are grateful for your ongoing and loyal support during a year of transition, and we look forward to brighter days ahead in 2023.

From all of us at JDRF Greater New England, thank you for another unforgettable year!

P.S. If JDRF is part of your year-end giving plans, gifts can be made online at jdrf.org/donate or postmarked by December 31, 2022 and sent to JDRF Greater New England, 62 Walnut Street, Suite 5, Wellesley, MA 02481.

The JDRF Greater New England office will be closed for Winter Break beginning at 2 p.m. on Friday, December 23 and will reopen on Tuesday, January 3.