McKenzie Jones of Denver, NC was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 5. Now 17, she just earned her Girl Scout Gold Award Project by traveling to Guatemala and raising awareness of diabetes. Her project was named “Tackling Type 1 Diabetes: Awareness, Screening, and Treatment in the Highlands of Guatemala.” During their five-day trip, she and her team were able to test 478 individuals in two villages – El Sitan and Tululche – for diabetes, including 378 children. Thankfully, they found no children with T1D. They did however find three children with hypoglycemia, one adult with hypoglycemia, and three adults with type 2 diabetes. These adults with type 2 are now aware of their condition and have met with a doctor to be put on a treatment plan at Mercy Clinic, McKenzie’s partner in the project. We are so impressed with McKenzie’s project and her dedication to provide a community with the knowledge and supplies needed to identify and treat any future T1D diagnoses.

From the donations collected from the community, McKenzie was able to bring the following supplies to Guatemala:

• 7 Blood Glucose Testing Kits
•  1600 Band Aids
• 800 Salvation Bracelets
• 800 Type 1 Diabetic Literature Sheets
• 800 Baby Wipes
• 400 Medical Gloves
• 2 Medical Waste Containers
• 1 Scale
• 900 Blood Glucose Test Strips
• 682 Stuffed Animals
• 800 Laminated Salvation Story Cards
• 1600 Alcohol Swabs
• 1000 Lancets
• 200 Ketone Strips
• 8 Clipboards; 8 Pens
• 1 Height Chart