Community picnic leaves a lasting impact for area families
Imagine being diagnosed with a life-altering disease when you’re just a kid, knowing you will have it for the rest of your life. That’s the reality for more than 304,000 children and adolescents in the United States living with Type 1 Diabetes. This diagnosis can be isolating, throwing kids into a world of testing, monitoring and feeling left out of the activities they used to enjoy.
Thankfully, for the more than 200 children at Emplify Health by Gundersen with Type 1 Diabetes, there’s a crew of care providers looking to manage both their disease and their well-being. When a local family made this team aware of their plans for more connection and community among kids with Type 1, the team reached out to Gundersen Medical Foundation to help fund a community picnic.
Now, having finished the second year of the picnic this past summer, the impact of the program is continuing to be felt by families like those of Emily and Rachel.
After diabetes support programs in their Minnesota town moved to cities farther away, Rachel worried about how her shy son would make friends who understood his condition. Their providers at Emplify Health by Gundersen told them about the community picnic created just for kids with diabetes, and it seemed like a perfect fit. “I thought, ‘There’s gotta be someone local,’ and here they are,” says Rachel.
Meanwhile in Wisconsin, Emily’s daughter was facing a similar lack of community. One of her providers also told her about the event and put her in touch with Rachel’s son. The two became pen pals before attending the picnic, with Emily’s daughter even making a friendship bracelet to help her identify Rachel’s son at the event. Once they met in person, it was like they had been friends for years, Rachel recalls.
Both parents spoke highly of their care teams and the community picnic. From themed activities to bingo to a bounce house, it was clear that there had been an effort to make sure there was no shortage of fun to be had and friendships to be made – friendships that continue well past one singular event.
“It’s nice to be around other kids who have devices, who are counting carbs,” Emily says, adding that everyone at the event knew what beeping monitors meant and the importance of diet to kids with diabetes.
These two kids, and many others, look forward to attending the community picnic for years to come, and their parents thank the community for donating to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals at Gundersen Medical Foundation to make it possible. As Rachel put it, “I could just cry because [my son] has such wonderful support.”
To help this event continue to make an impact on families in your community, visit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Form.
