Nearly 34 million Americans have some form of diabetes. Whether it’s type 1 or type 2, chances are good that one of your employees or someone you know is impacted by this disease. November is designated as National Diabetes Awareness Month, which is a month-long awareness campaign for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. During NDAM, people all over the country team up to spread awareness about diabetes and highlight the urgent need to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its complications.

The need for awareness and education on T1D is more important than ever. Bringing attention to diabetes throughout the month not only helps to bring more understanding to a very misunderstood disease, but it can also help to bring in more funding for essential research and support for important legislative issues facing the T1D community.

How To Get Your Work Place Involved

There are tons of simple, yet effective ways to get your business involved in NDAM this month:

Share facts about diabetes on your company intranet: you can spread awareness of the signs and symptoms of T1D, dispel common myths or misconceptions, and explain the differences between type 1 and type 2. Here are a ton of informational social media assets that you can use on your company intranet or share to your public profiles to help educate your employees and clients during NDAM!

Highlight any employees impacted by type 1 or type 2 diabetes on your company social media channels: this is a great way to help connect the community to your people and engage with personal stories.

Share how you, as a company, have contributed to JDRF this year: your clients and employees can learn what you have done to help further advance research to improve lives and cure T1D. 

Hold a fundraiser to raise money for JDRF: there are tons of ways you can fundraise in the office and out! Below you will find some of our favorites.

• Dress Down Days: Ask your boss if you can host a Dress Down Friday or a Jeans Day in exchange for employee donations.
• Company Bake Sale: Host a bake sale for your office, floor, or entire building. Don’t price items— just ask for a donation and tell them it’s going to JDRF. Some people might give you $20 for a cookie— we’ve seen it happen!
• Matching Gift Programs: Many companies will match donations made by their employees. Ask your company if they have a similar program. Be sure to ask your co-workers to fill out the appropriate forms and donate. You can turn those $25 donations into $50 donations in a snap!
• Parking Space Raffle: Does your CEO have a reserved parking space? If so, ask him or her to raffle it off for a week, a month, or for the year.
• Office Olympics: Ask each department to create an obstacle course/relay race. Put them all together and you have Office Olympics! Get participants (or teams) to make a donation as their “entry fee” and you have an afternoon filled with fun!

We are thankful for our partners who help us in our vision to see a world without T1D! Together, we will raise awareness for type 1 diabetes, educate others and raise much needed funds to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. You are making a difference. Thank you!

For more information and educational materials on National Diabetes Awareness Month, visit jdrf.org/ndam.