Corporate types gather to kick off diabetes walk

ROGERS — A 1.5-mile walk seems minimal output compared to the daily grind of shots and food monitoring required of kids with Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes.

A room full of supplier team leaders and others with an interest in helping stamp out the disease gathered at the Embassy Suites of Northwest Arkansas Thursday (Aug. 23) for lunch and a pep talk about the 2012 Walk to Cure Diabetes. The event will be 10 a.m. Oct. 20, beginning at The Gardens at the University of Arkansas.
A purpose of the kickoff event was to encourage corporations, business and individuals to organize teams for the walk. The popularity of the event and the foundation made it easy for folks to get excited about it.

“I love this organization and the people involved with JDRF. We at Car-Mart are very excited to do our part in this year’s campaign,” said Rob Hey, a member of the foundation’s local board of directors.

Hey said Car-Mart takes the challenge to raise money for juvenile diabetes research personally as its company CEO Hank Henderson’s daughter Haley is a Type 1 diabetic.
 
“We are already off to a great start in our fundraising with some $14,000 pledged before today’s kick-off,” Hey said. He challenged everyone to dig deep and do more than last year to exceed the 2012 goal of $255,000.
 
Scott Winchester, director of sales for Blue Rhino in Bentonville, said his family and friends are active in JDRF fundraising because of a close neighbor who courageously manages his Type 1 diabetes day in and day out.
 
He said watching his neighbor grow into a strong young man and never being able to leave the diabetes behind is his family’s motivation to support JDRF.

Cameron Smith, principal at Cameron Smith Associates, is this year’s corporate chairman for the Walk to Cure Diabetes.