Rochester, NY — Landon Smith and Will Shemirani are Seniors at McQuaid Jesuit High School and are personally impacted by type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Landon’s two older brothers both have T1D and his Mom, Alicia, has was diagnosed with T1D as an adult. Landon sees their daily efforts to manage their diabetes, and both the literal and figurative highs & lows of their blood sugars every day. Knowing the impact that T1D has on his family’s life, he wanted to find a way to raise funds for JDRF and T1D research.

Landon’s friend, Will Shemirani, also knows what it’s like to have a loved one with T1D. Will’s older sister has T1D, and he shared Landon’s desire to make an impact on the lives of people in the T1D community.

These two friends and classmates were surprised when they discovered that both of their siblings had T1D. They joined together to empower change & make an impact by supporting JDRF. Landon & Will created the McQuaid Diabetes Wreath Fundraiser and sold wreaths from Woody Acres in Penfield, NY. All the profits from the fundraiser will be donated to JDRF to help us fund critical research that will help us improve more lives & find a cure for T1D.

Have a great fundraising idea? You can create your own fundraiser for JDRF through our JDRF Your Way platform. Whether you sell wreaths like Landon & Will, hold a bake sale, or run a race for JDRF, there are endless ways to move us forward towards a cure for T1D. Reach out to us at upstateny@jdrf.org if you are interested in holding your own JDRF fundraiser.