{"id":1200,"date":"2016-03-21T12:43:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T19:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/?p=1200"},"modified":"2016-03-21T12:43:45","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T19:43:45","slug":"diabetes-international-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/?p=1200","title":{"rendered":"Diabetes [International] Advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>What Makes JDRF Advocates Stand Out on the Hill?<\/h1>\n<p><time>March 15, 2016<\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"content post-content\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"JDRF Government Day 2016 - What Makes JDRF Advocates Stand Out?\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/159090851\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>They keep coming back<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They put their day-to-day lives on hold to attend JDRF Government Day because they see the bigger picture\u2014they want to change all lives affected by type 1 diabetes (T1D). Melinda Renfroe, a grassroots JDRF Advocate from Alabama, missed celebrating her daughter\u2019s 23rd birthday on the day because she is here in Washington, D.C., speaking out for Federal support of T1D research progress for her daughter and everyone living with T1D. Melinda told her daughter, Alexandra, \u201cMy being at Government Day on your birthday will one day give you the best birthday present ever. A cure.\u201d As a JDRF 2009 Children\u2019s Congress Delegate herself, Alexandra understood, saying \u201cMom, you\u2019re my hero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>They\u2019re persistent<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Take the Indiana delegation. Cindy Cook, Sharon Gregor, Gartha Ingram and Richard Shevitz will attend a total of 11 meetings in two days. That means they\u2019re meeting with all of the Members of Congress or their staff from their home state. Their secret? \u201cWe follow up. We make it easy for them to schedule meetings. And we say thank you,\u201d says Cindy Cook. The grandmother of a high school freshman with T1D, Cindy has been involved with JDRF since her grandson was diagnosed as an infant. For the last seven years, she has witnessed the power of perseverance each time she returns to the Hill and speaks to Members and their staff who remember JDRF and our mission. Representative Susan Brooks (IN-5) recently accepted the position of House Diabetes Caucus Vice Chair, and her office made a special point of reaching out to Gartha to tell him they were inspired in part by him and his son\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>They\u2019re passionate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nobody can deny the energy in the room when our army of volunteers gets together, shares their stories and their successes and heads out the door more determined than ever. Patrick Tohill, JDRF Canada Director of Government Relations, says, \u201cI\u2019m inspired to see how many people want to engage and serve as advocates. I can\u2019t wait to go back home and harness that same energy for T1D research funding and support in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>They take it back home<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For JDRF Advocates, the hard work doesn\u2019t end when they leave D.C. Throughout the year they will keep in touch with their Representatives and Senators, tell their stories at JDRF and other community events in their home Districts, and crucially, prepare others to become advocates. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to go back and tell others how many people in Washington do care and are fighting in our corner,\u201d says Scott Minor, a JDRF New York Advocate. To reach a world without T1D, we must first cover the U.S. map, meet with every lawmaker, and ask each one to promise to remember those who live with T1D when they vote on legislation that will improve lives and lead to a cure. JDRF Advocates are the One Voice that will eventually help us create a world without T1D.<\/p>\n<p><strong>They fight to the finish<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis will end.\u201d Bill Parsons, Executive Director, JDRF Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Chapter, told a fired-up crowd of Advocates before they left for two days of Hill meetings. \u201cIf it seems like you\u2019ve been saying the same thing year after year, know that we have made tangible progress, like the SDP renewal, and you have been part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Are you ready to be part of it? Become a JDRF Advocate by texting \u201cACT\u201d to 53731 (or JDRF1) or <a href=\"http:\/\/jdrf.org\/take-action\/advocacy\/join\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">sign up online<\/span><\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/cdn.jdrf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Gov-Day-Attendee-Group-Shot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18891\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.jdrf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Gov-Day-Attendee-Group-Shot.jpg\" alt=\"JDRF Government Day Advocates\" width=\"3180\" height=\"1552\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And keep following <strong>#JDRFGovDay<\/strong> to see what makes JDRF Advocates the best of the best.<\/p>\n<p><em>A special thanks to Sanofi \u2014 JDRF 2016 Government Day Presenting Sponsor.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"blogpost-footer blogpost-author\">By Cynthia Tully \u2022 <a href=\"http:\/\/jdrf.org\/blog\/\"><u><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">JDRF<\/span><\/u><\/a><\/footer>\n<footer class=\"blogpost-footer blogpost-topics\"><strong>Similar Topics<\/strong><\/footer>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Makes JDRF Advocates Stand Out on the Hill? March 15, 2016 They keep coming back They put their day-to-day lives on hold to attend JDRF Government Day because they see the bigger picture\u2014they want to change all lives affected &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/?p=1200\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1201,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions\/1201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}