Posted by Sandy Donchess on June 07, 1999 at 13:23:09:
Kids Showcase Role in Children's Congress for Diabetes Cure
U.S. Newswire
4 Jun 13:30
Three Kids Showcase Massachusetts' Unique Role in Children's
Congress for Diabetes Cure
To: National, State and Assignment desks
Contact: Gail Pressberg, 617-928-3408,
or Scott Swenson, 202-326-8712,
both for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation
News Advisory:
The 9-year-old boy who dreamt up the idea of a Children's Congress
to Cure Diabetes in Washington, the 8-year-old son of a leading
researcher seeking that cure, and the 16-year-old girl who won a
national essay competition on why a cure is important all come from
Massachusetts. Each has diabetes and each is preparing to carry a
message from all diabetes sufferers in Massachusetts to Washington,
D.C.: "Promise to remember me..."
The three Massachusetts delegates to the Juvenile Diabetes
Foundation's first Children's Congress are available for pre-Congress
interviews between now and June 20 when they leave Massachusetts for
D.C., and/or coverage of their activities in Washington, D.C. They
are:
Tommy Solo, 9, Newton, Mass.
Tommy, who has had diabetes since he was 2, dreamt that there
would be a cure for diabetes and he knows that means more money for
more scientists and research. So he thought maybe children with
diabetes, from every state, should go to Washington and ask Congress
for help. "If the politicians and the scientists work together, they
can help a lot of children," Tommy wrote to Congressman Barney Frank
(D-Mass.).
Sam Melton, 8, Lexington, Mass.
Sam knows quite a bit about diabetes. He's had it since he was six
months old, and his father knows a little about it, too; he is Doug
Melton, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard
University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a leading
researcher seeking a cure. Sam writes, "If scientists had more money,
they could get pancreas cells and put them in an envelope so that the
white blood cells can't get them. If this worked, it'd be great for
me."
Samantha Jane Richardson, 16, Bedford, Mass.
Samantha is a sophomore in high school and has had diabetes for
two years. Her essay about why she wants a cure for diabetes was
selected from a rigorous national competition sponsored by the
Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. This very articulate young woman
writes, "The problem is, most people think insulin is a cure, and
have stopped worrying about finding a real cure. We have become
forgotten and still have to put up with diabetes every day of our
life. Research funding to cure diabetes is unfairly limited."
------
DATES OF INTEREST TO MASSACHUSETTS MEDIA AND WASHINGTON, D.C.,
BUREAUS:
Thursday, June 3:
Taping of the "Rosie O'Donnell Show" in New York.
Tommy Solo will be on the show with JDF International Chairman
Mary Tyler Moore. The show will be broadcast on June, 21, 1999; check
local listings.
Monday, June 7:
White House Press Conference with the First Lady and Mary Tyler
Moore.
Sam Melton and his father, Doug, and Tommy Solo and his mother,
Pam, will attend a press conference held by First Lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton in Washington, D.C., in Room 450 of the Old Executive Office
Building at 2:30 p.m. to highlight the need for more research funding
for juvenile diabetes. JDF International Chair Mary Tyler Moore will
also attend the press conference.
Sunday, June 20:
Children and families arrive in Washington for Children's
Congress.
Monday, June 21:
Children and families meet with Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health
and Human Services.
"Rosie O'Donnell Show" airs (see above).
Tuesday, June 22:
Children and families tell stories at morning hearing on Capitol
Hill.
Followed by a luncheon with political leaders and celebrities,
including JDF International Chair Mary Tyler Moore and others.
------
FACTS FOR MEDIA:
-- Diabetes is a debilitating disease that afflicts 120 million
people worldwide.
-- Every three minutes, one of the 16 million Americans who has
diabetes will die of it.
-- Taking insulin is not a cure.
-- Diabetes accounts for $98 billion in annual U.S. health care
costs.
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
06/04 13:30