Jeannine and Tom Stack have been heavily involved with JDRF since their son Austin’s diagnosis with T1D in August 2000. As a family, they have been raising funds and awareness in any possible way they can – walking, running, and riding for JDRF. Together, they have raised over $10,000 just this year alone! Jeannine Stack shares with us: “Getting involved with JDRF has made living with T1D a little more palatable. Surrounding our family with other families who are also going through the same issues is key… we speak each other’s language and become instant friends for life.”

Involvement with JDRF

Jeannine and Tom have been involved with JDRF since a month after Austin was diagnosed in 2000, participating in the Walk to Cure Diabetes at Stonybrook University. The couple since has participated in several of the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes events and Austin himself became involved as a JDRF Ambassador in 2002. “JDRF’s Ambassador Program gave Austin confidence to speak about type one diabetes. It makes you feel like you are not alone”.

Doing Whatever it Takes

After approaching her employer for a match for her personal Ride fundraising, Jeannine was told they would only match donations for running endurance events. Staying the course with her plan to Ride in Amelia Island, Jeannine took on the challenge and added two more events to her routine, and ran the Bridgehampton Half and participated in the Maine Half Ironman – if that’s what it took to receive a match, that’s what she had to do.
In addition Tom’s company generously contributed to his fundraising efforts. The Stack Family shared with us: “We do understand that there are so many wonderful organizations out there to donate to and we acknowledge that however, we know our donors hold a special place in their hearts for JDRF. This past year our fundraising was also challenge by all of the natural disasters happening around the world. We had to reach out to over 1,000 people to reach our goal of $10,000 but we did it!”.

Being Thankful

The Stack family is extremely grateful for every donation they have received. “Thankful not only for the actual donation but for our friends and family for taking a moment out of their life to let us know they are supporting us with our fight to cure type 1 diabetes.”

We here at JDRF are beyond thankful to have the Stack Family as part of our community and appreciate their continued dedication in helping to cure, prevent, and treat type one diabetes!