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| By Debbie Gardner PRIME Editor GREATER SPRINGFIELD On Oct. 2, an estimated 350 walkers and volunteers will gather at the Elks Lodge on Tiffany Street in Springfield's Forest Park neighborhood for this year's Walk for Diabetes. Only this year the walkers and their supporters won't just be raising funds to continue the research to find a cure for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. They will be helping the American Diabetes Association fulfill its pledge to help in the rebuilding of the southern health systems ravaged by hurricane Katrina. "Our walk in Springfield will support the commitment that the American Diabetes Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association have made ... [together] they have pledged $1 million to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to rebuild the health system infrastructure in the Gulf Coast region," said Daneen Richards, executive director for the Connecticut/Western Massachusetts chapter of the American Diabetes Association. The $1 million will help get facilities such as medical clinics and hospitals up and running again. Richards said that, to her knowledge, this is the first time of the annual Diabetes walk has raised funds for another cause in addition to research. It's also a first that the American Diabetes Association is supporting another fund. "I think its unprecedented for three non-profits (the Diabetes Association, Cancer Society and Heart Association) to make a pledge like this to another non-profit," she said. The local goal for the Oct. 2 walk is $85,000, with $10,000 in online pledges and $5,000 in sponsorships already collected towards that goal. "The rest will be turned in the day of the event ... the walkers will turn in [their pledges] when they come to walk," Richards said. She said individuals wishing to support the walk can do so in several ways. They can find a local walker or team and make a pledge to support their efforts. They can go online at www.diabetes.org\walk and make a direct pledge to the walk, or support a walker or a team through an online donation, or They can solicit their own pledges, come to the Elks Lodge on Tiffany Street at 9 a.m. on Oct. 2 and sign up to participate in either the three or six-mile fund-raiser walk. Walkers can also sign up online at www.diabetes/org\walk. "We love it when [people] do that," Richards said. For more information about the Oct. 2 walk, and the programs supported by the American diabetes Association, visit www.diabetes.org or call 1-888-DIABETES. |