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Through the Bag of Hope program, JDRF delivers care packages with invaluable tools, including both information and management materials, to help families with a newly diagnosed type 1 child learn more about day-to-day living with diabetes

The Bag of Hope is a sturdy back pack filled with a comprehensive collection of educational, comfort, and support items for children up to age 11, as well as materials for the adult caregiver, including:

• ACCU-CHEK Blood Glucose Meter
• Diabetes books for kids and adults
• Rufus the Bear – a cuddly stuffed animal with diabetes

The Bag of Hope is completely free of charge and available to newly diagnosed type 1 children through JDRF Chapters due to the generosity of our program partner, Roche Diagnostics.

The Bag of Hope program offers the additional benefit of partnering any newly diagnosed family who wishes with a JDRF family that has faced similar experiences. Through these connections newly diagnosed families learn of additional support available within their communities.

The Campaign to Accelerate the Cure for Diabetes

Cure Therapeutics: The Six Fastest Paths to Our Destination

1. Perfecting islet transplantation – without chronic immunosuppression – to permanently restore normal blood sugar levels in people with type 1 diabetes
2. Creating safe, stable, and widely available “universal donor” sources of insulin-secreting cells for transplantation and research to develop safe, human-compatible islet cells from animal sources
3. Regenerating the body’s own beta cells without islet transplantation – and simultaneously inducing immune tolerance to restore normal blood sugar levels;
4. Perfecting a closed-loop artificial pancreas
5. Creating novel approaches and therapeutics for predicting, preventing and reversing complications
6. Preventing type 1 diabetes by maintaining or restoring immune tolerance in new-onset patients.

Coffees/Support Groups

JDRF has recognized the need to form a formal network that:

• Introduces families with children of similar ages
• Encourages information exchange
• Offers an environment of social support that might not be available from family, friends or neighbors
• Provides a learning forum exposing members to new channels of diabetes education that compliments their professional medical treatment

Meetings are held quarterly. These meetings will be an opportunity to get together for a few hours and meet other families dealing with similar issues. Some meetings will have quest speakers who will speak on such topics as: nutrition, insulin pump therapy, and research. Our goal is to include in this Network as many of the esteemed clinics, providers and organizations involved in diabetes care in this region.