On November 1, we kicked off Diabetes Awareness Month here on Lady Clay. Awareness is where it starts, but this month I wanted to do more than write about it. So this weekend I will be trading my laptop for a volunteer shirt at a local Breakthrough T1D Walk.
If you’re in North Texas and wondering what all the blue is about this weekend, here’s why I’ll be there and how you can be part of it too.
What is the Breakthrough T1D Walk?
Breakthrough T1D (you might know it by its old name, JDRF) is the leading organization funding type 1 diabetes research. Its walk is the biggest fundraising and community event for the T1D world, held in cities across the country. Families, friends, coworkers, and complete strangers show up together, walk a route, and raise money for research, advocacy, and support until there’s a cure.
What I love about it is that it isn’t a race. Nobody is timing you. Kids walk with parents, teams wear matching shirts with the names of the person they’re walking for, and the whole morning feels more like a celebration than a fundraiser.
A quick refresher on type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The body’s immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, so people with T1D must replace that insulin every day, for life, through injections or a pump. It isn’t caused by diet or lifestyle, and you can’t prevent it with exercise. It can show up at any age, though it’s often diagnosed in children.
One thing every parent should know is the warning signs, sometimes called the 4 T’s:
- Toilet – needing to pee much more often, or bedwetting in a child who was dry at night
- Thirsty – constant thirst that doesn’t go away
- Tired – unusual fatigue
- Thinner – losing weight without trying
If you notice these, call your doctor right away. Catching T1D early can prevent a dangerous emergency called DKA.
Why I signed up
This one is personal. I’m not walking for someone else: I have been living with type 1 diabetes for almost 20 years. That’s nearly two decades of finger pricks, insulin doses, carb math at every meal, and low blood sugars that show up at the worst possible moments. It’s also nearly two decades of watching the tools and research improve, and that progress happened because people walked, donated, and volunteered long before I ever did.
T1D comes along to everything I do. Most of the work is invisible: checking my numbers before I drive, packing snacks for every outing, running numbers in my head in the middle of a busy day. A walk can’t take that away. But standing with thousands of people who get it reminds me that none of us is doing this alone, and every dollar raised moves research closer to the day no one has to manage it at all. This year, I want to give back to the community that has carried me.
What volunteering looks like
I will be one of the many volunteers helping the day run smoothly, which means an early alarm and probably cheering louder than I should. Volunteers are what keep a walk like this running, from setting up before sunrise to handing out water to high-fiving the last walkers across the finish.
How you can get involved
You don’t have to volunteer to make a difference. Here are a few easy ways to join in:
- Walk with us. The walk is free to join; you just need to register on the Breakthrough T1D website.
- Donate. Every dollar supports research, advocacy, and people living with T1D. If you’d like to support my walk, you can donate to my Lady Clay fundraising page here, or scan the QR code below.
3. Wear blue. Blue is the color of diabetes awareness. Wear it Saturday, or all month.
4. Share the 4 T’s. Send them to a friend with young kids. It takes ten seconds and could make a real difference.
5. Follow along. I’ll be sharing photos from walk day on Instagram at @ladyclaylife.
Walking together
Whether you’re walking at an event near you or cheering from home, thank you for being part of this. I’ll share a recap next week so you can see what the day looked like.
Here’s to walking toward a world without type 1 diabetes, one step at a time. 💙
