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Kyle Monette, Advocate and Fund-raiser for Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF), is being honored for educating children, youth, and adults about juvenile diabetes (type I diabetes) and motivating them to join him in the fight to raise funds and public awareness about the disease. Mr. Monette has been involved with the JDRF cause for ten years, since he took part in the Juvenile Diabetes Walkathon at age 7. In researching the situation, Mr. Monette realized that most school children were unaware of the difficulties diabetic youth face in dealing with their disease and that as of yet there is no cure. When Mr. Monette entered high school in 2004, his work began in earnest. He created a program entitled “Kids Helping Kids with Diabetes.” Mr. Monette personally contacted 150 middle and high schools to lend their support to JDRF. His goal was to recruit other students in his crusade to help children with juvenile diabetes. He encouraged advocacy in other students by having diabetic classmates relate the hardships they face daily testing their blood sugar and giving themselves insulin shots, even at school. Utilizing his artistic talents, Mr. Monette publicized information about juvenile diabetes in brochures, flyers, a DVD, and a web site he created. He developed the “Shoes in the Chute” fundraiser in which he bought inexpensive sneakers from online vendors, numbered the shoes, and enlisted the aid of students to sell them to raise funds for JDRF. Through Mr. Monette various fund-raising efforts, $50,000 has been raised for JDRF in just three years. Mr. Monette also works with state legislators on behalf of JDRF—he has collected signatures on petitions and given testimony in support of U.S. House Bill 2074, which if passed would enable taxpayers to donate to research for juvenile diabetes.
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