For the entire month of October, we are continuing to feature the JDRF Walk to
Cure Diabetes on our T1D Tuesday Blog! We will be interviewing Walk Team
Captains from around the country, who will share their experiences on
how they started their team and how they became successful at
fundraising.

Today meet JDRF Walk Team, Hannah’s Hippies who has raised over $27,000 for JDRF!

T1Nation: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Team Captain Shawna: I’m Shawna and I’m a D-mom.  My daughter Hannah was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2008 at the age of 7 years old.  I get up twice (or more) a night to check her blood sugar and will do whatever I can to find her a cure!!

T1Nation: Who do you Walk for? When were they diagnosed and at what age?
Team Captain Shawna: I walk for my very strong 12 year old daughter, who is my hero.  She was diagnosed at age 7

T1Nation: What is your team name? How did you come up with the name?
Shawna: Hannah came up with Hannah’s Hippies because when she was younger, she was very excited about bright neon colors and peace signs.  I thought it was important for her to play a big part in the team name since it is really her team.

T1Nation: Where is your JDRF Walk location?
Shawna: Our location is JDRF Dallas, Dallas, Texas and the walk is located at Victory Plaza in downtown Dallas on this Saturday, September 28th

T1Nation: How many years have you participated in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes?
Shawna: This is our 5th year to participate in the walk and the 3rd year as a team. 

T1Nation: To date, how much has your team raised?
Shawna:  Our team has raised over $27,000 by participating in the JDRF Walk, and even more in the Dallas JDRF Gala, which we also heavily participate in each year.

T1Nation: What do you love most about the event?
Shawna: I love that at the Walk, we can see many type 1 kids and Hannah gets to see her friends (it’s a small community) and meet other kids that have type 1.   It’s worth it to see all of those affected by type 1 that will one day be cured by our fundraising!  I also love that our family & friends come together for this great event.

T1Nation: Please share your tips on how others can get involved in joining/fundraising.  What has worked best for you?
Shawna: Fundraising Tips;  My mom has really opened my eyes to how much is out there if you just ask.  She is amazing.  She was having dinner at a local steak house one night and saw that they were doing a fundraiser and asked how we could get our team supported by the restaurant.  They said all we had to do was ask.  They supported our team this year!  Also, open up the fundraising to more than just your immediate family.  My Aunt & Uncle now host a Triathlon each year with proceeds benefiting Hannah’s Hippies & JDRF.   Social Networking has also been a great help for us.  We had someone we hardly know donate $150 last week because finding a Type 1 Diabetes is dear to her heart.  We would have never known if we hadn’t posted a link to Hannah’s story on Facebook.

Get involved in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes in your community. Visit http://walk.jdrf.org to sign up today!