Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), Colorado Springs Chapter

JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

Diabetes and its complications affect more than 18 million people in the U.S., and 194 million around the world. As many as 3 million Americans may have type 1 diabetes – the most severe form of the disease.

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $900 million to diabetes research, including more than $98 million in FY2005. More than 80 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and research-related education. In FY2005, the Foundation funded 500 centers, grants and fellowships in 19 countries.

More than $6.5 million has been provided to Colorado research facilities via JDRF fundraising activities since 2002.