I just graduated in May 08 from the University of Tennessee. While
at UT, I started a group called the Diabetes Advocacy Board. Here is
the current website: http://web.utk.edu/~dab/
The group started out with about 8 students who all had diabetes,
but by the time I graduated (2 years later) more than 35 students had
participated in our organization in some way, and most of them didn't
have diabetes (but just cared about someone who did).
Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone else out there was interested
in starting a similar group on their campus. If so, I would love to
give you advice, tips, etc.
I know it may seem like a big task, but I would love to see groups
like the DAB popping up at colleges across the country. What an
incredible movement!
Events: While I was at UT, the Diabetes Advocacy Board
sponsored a Diabetes Awareness Week, where we had a table in a
prominent location on campus and sold ribbon to raise money for our
local JDRF chapter.
We also hosted a speaker event later that year, getting Nicole
Johnson, the host of D-Life and Miss America 1999, to do a presentation
on campus about her life with diabetes. More than 80 students attended!
The Diabetes Advocacy Board also participated in 2 JDRF Walks while I was in school. Our team raised more than $1000 total.
So let me know if I can help you get something started in your school! Let's get the discussion started!
That's really cool! I'm jealous that we couldn't be that cool.
There were 3 of us on our campus (smaller 5000 enroll. school) who were all counselors at the local diabetes camp, and we always wanted to get some formal fundraisers and awareness events started. We tried to get a mini-walk to take place on campus, but there problem was that right when we started planning Relay for Life got started on our campus, and there's no way you can beat American Cancer Society's program and organization so we thought two walks would be repititive.
But we did host a diabetes testing day in our union once a year through a state diabetes awareness group and had nurses come and help us check blood sugars.
We also had one of the sororities on campus come attend the JDRF Walk with us...but besides that we didn't do much formally.
Unfortunately we all graduated in May so I'm sure those efforts died. What you did is awesome though!
I'm at Rutgers and we have the Diabetes Association of Rutgers University. Right now I think there are about 50 members, and I think almost everyone is a non diabetic. We do several fundraising activities like volunteering at soup kitchens, collecting/donating supplies to a local diabetes camp, and having bake sales, etc. to raise money. Occasionally we'll send a few people to a diabetes convention/expo in the area. Our JDRF chapter's walk takes place right on campus so that's really convenient and easy to recruit volunteers and walkers.
I'm starting to become more active in the club now, hoping to become an administrator of some sort this coming year so I can help out more and have more of a say in the activities we do..some of the things you guys did sound pretty cool!
Wow, I never really met another diabetic that went to Rutgers! I've only really been a member of the since the end of last semester so I didn't really get a chance to get too involved yet. If you go on facebook I know they have a group there you can go to, otherwise I think meetings are the first Tuesday of every month.
What campus do you live on, do you know of any other diabetics on campus? haha
If you want to talk or anything just message me or look me up on facebook
That is awesome that you did all that! So proud of you!
And
it would be amazing if people in college could start their own Diabetes
Advocacy Board at their schools by gathering up people right here on
juvenation and connect with people in their areas to see if you all
go to the same college and do it together etc..There is a College Life Group in the Groups tab at the top of the page we can start there and see what happens?
I'm at Texas A&M University and started a group on campus after the social network I run. Diabetic Echoes. We participate in the JDRF walk, the Promise Ball, and World Diabetes Day events. We also just get together to chat and have fun, sometimes about diabetes and sometimes not.
We've started out very small. I'm just wondering how you guys advertised on campus for your groups. I've tried emails through the disability department, flyers around campus, Facebook groups, just spreading the word, and building the websites through Echoes and the school.