About Our Board

Seated (right – left)

  • Mary Swoope
  • Lynn Fitch
  • Ellen Leake
  • Wendy Muths
  • Rita Wray
  • Donna Jacobs
  • Kitty Rushing
  • Betsy Ditto
  • Toodie Jones
  • Lisa Wise

Standing (right – left)

  • Jack Burrell
  • Randy Howard
  • David Thomas
  • Phil Burnett
  • Frank Farmer
  • Harold Corbin, Board President
  • Allen Ashcraft
  • George Moll, M.D.
  • Chris Bates
  • Dale Hubbard

Not Pictured

Mike Anthony, Tommy Butler, John Curtis, Mark Darby, Tyrone Ellis, Rick Hale, Jerry Host, Jane Joseph, Shaun Joyner, Susie Kerce, Eason Leake, Franc Lee, Melanie Powell-Lowery, Cyndi Howard McCoy, Greg Oden, Hugo Newcomb, Daniel Riche, Steve Sinquefield, Phyllis White, Cheryl Anthony, William Bastian, M.D., David Beard, Marshall Bouldin, M.D., Clayton Cochran, Kane Ditto, Robert Evans, M.D., Betsy Ditto, Lisa Reed, Gary Rhoads, Miriam Weems

Harold Corbin – President of the Board of Directors

Harold Corbin

Mark Darby

I became involved with JDRF when my daughter, Brittany was diagnosed with diabetes in June of 2003. I support JDRF because over 80% of their expenditures support research, and I want a cure found for my daughter. Any time I have ever needed anything, JDRF is there. I appreciate Michelle Alexander, Michelle Colon and Janet McDaniel’s enthusiasm and support in helping raise money to find a cure for this dreaded disease that has robbed our kids of a normal life.

Betsy Ditto

Betsy DittoI became involved with JDRF after my daughter Anna was diagnosed with diabetes in 1992. In 1996, I began assisting JDRF with Government Affairs, making visits to the Mississippi Congressional Delegation. In 1998, a small group of parents and friends organized the JDRF Mississippi Chapter, with encouragement from JDRF International.

We organized the first Mississippi Walk to Cure Diabetes that year, and began the Monopoly Gala in 2000. It was lots of hard work, but lots of fun too. I would do it again in a minute.

I am convinced that JDRF is a dedicated and very efficient steward of our time and our contributions. I am certain that JDRF will be the reason that a cure is found! I am so grateful for this organization and so proud of the incredible growth our chapter has seen.

Frank Farmer

Frank FarmerAs a person who lives with type 1 diabetes every day, getting involved with the JDRF was an easy decision. After all, I have a personal stake in the success of this organization. After I attended my first JDRF Gala in 2002 and saw the passion and progress that the JDRF inspires, I was hooked!

The JDRF has revolutionized the way we research and the way we fund research. That research is vital to curing this disease. Even today, research and technology developed at JDRF-funded centers helps people living with diabetes enjoy increased quality of life while keeping their eyes on the cure.

While I am proud to be a part of the Mississippi Chapter of the JDRF, I do look forward to the day when it is no longer needed because a cure has been found. I am confident that the research that the Mississippi Chapter helps the JDRF fund is moving from “bench to bedside” as quickly as possible. It is that research that will make the cure a reality – for me and thousands of others who want to live without this disease!

Dale Hubbard

Dale HubbardI originally became involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation as a favor to a good friend. However, after becoming familiar with the good work being done by this organization, I became personally committed to its mission and have been extremely active and involved ever since.

As a delegate to the national convention, I have had an opportunity to see first hand how pro-active and involved JDRF is in the most important aspect of this terrible disease, finding a cure. I also have a close family member who was stricken with diabetes early in life and I am now committed more than ever to do all I can to help fund research.

We are so close to a cure and it is my true belief that when the cure is found, JDRF will be the driving force behind it. It is my honor and my privilege to be a part of the Mississippi organization and I look forward to continuing my efforts on its behalf and on behalf of the people afflicted with diabetes.

Franc Lee

Franc LeeI am committed to helping JDRF Fund a Cure for Diabetes. The fact that JDRF has the singular focus of finding a cure gives me a great deal of clarity when working with the organization to raise money. What a huge opportunity all of us have to participate in the cure for such a horrible disease.

Cyndi McCoy

Cyndi McCoyI became involved with JDRF after the life changing day in 2002 when my 5 year old son Will was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Once the initial shock of the diagnosis wore off, our family became committed to working to find a cure for diabetes. JDRF’s commitment to research is the key reason that I feel it is THE diabetes organization that will find a cure. That is my family’s goal – a cure for Will and everyone like him.

After a particularly bad low blood sugar not long after his diagnosis, Will said “Mom, I know why they call it diabetes; it’s because you die from it, right? That’s why they call it die-abetes, right?” I knew then and there that I had to become actively involved in finding a cure for diabetes, and I know that JDRF is the organization that can make that a reality.

In working with JDRF, we have found a community of people who truly understand what it is like to have a child with diabetes. Will can be just like everyone else with his JDRF friends. The support and friendships we have made through our affiliation with JDRF are priceless.

Kitty Rushing

Kitty RushingI became involved with JDRF through my friendship with the Dittos, who are so personally committed to the cause for a cure. I believe in JDRF because I have seen up close the anguish and hope in the parents I have met who have children with diabetes. Their dedication will surely bring results in the search for a cure.

I don’t have diabetes nor do I know of family members at this time who have to live with this disease, but I would like, in some small way, to be a part of the battle that is being fought by JDRF.

I have not ever been involved with a group that is more organized and determined . . . from the employees of the Mississippi Chapter to the individuals who make up the Board to those members who daily deal with this dreadful disease.