Meet Jenna Scarsi

It's my pleasure to introduce Jenna Scarsi, the 2006 winner of the Bayer Dream Fund. For those not familiar with the fund, Bayer Diabetes Care (makers of the Contour and Breeze meters) sponsors an annual contest that supports the efforts of an individual with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Two winning dreams have featured physical efforts that demonstrate the unlimited potential of a person with diabetes (like John Dennis, who entered an around-the-world solo sailing race, and Peter Hoogenboom's amazing bicycle tour visiting all 48 states in the continental US). My project focused on sharing inspiration and information. My personal favorite dream fund activity, Colleen McCarthy LaPierre's "Dream Big" SCUBA and adventure camp, combined support, inspiration, community and a once off-limits activity (SCUBA diving)to create a truly inspiring experience for eight teenagers with diabetes.

Jenna, our 2006 winner, is a CDE and person with diabetes based in the Chicago area. For the past two years, she has hosted "Lights, Camera, Cure", a fundraising and education event that brings families together for a day of fun at the movies. A health fair prior to the event gives folks a chance to learn more about diabetes and meet other families living with it. It's a classic combination, with the added bonus of raising money for diabetes research.

Jenna's dream is to take the event nation-wide. With the help of the Dream Fund, she's hosting "Lights, Camera, Cure" in five cities across the nation. If she's coming to a town near you, I hope you'll consider attending the event.

Jenna's the kind of person with diabetes that has inspired me since my own diagnosis twenty years ago. She's that person who is willing to stand up and demonstrate that having diabetes doesn't mean retreating from the world and its challenges. She's the educator that teaches and shows how to live well, and who constantly looks for ways to improve the lives of her patients. Like so many of us, she yearns for a cure and works hard to support people with diabetes while we wait. And she's putting her life on hold for the next year to take that message to as many folks as possible. I'm thankful for her, and people like her, who focus their energies on what we can do, even with a cranky pancreas.

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The Dream Fund is taking applications for the 2007 contest. If you have a dream that inspires others by demonstrating what people with diabetes can do, visit http://www.bayerdreamfund.com to apply.