Jenna's Jellybeans: More Than Just a Shirt

In the twenty-five years that we have been in the screen printing & embroidery business we have printed too many jobs to even begin to count for a variety of different customers. I must say that we have thoroughly enjoyed producing all those jobs as we truly love what we do and have met some pretty great people along the way. Although we are passionate about every job that we print, one of our favorite types of jobs that we are asked to do are those for special events or causes. Recently one of those special jobs came our way when we were contacted by a family to help make custom made t-shirts for their team, Jenna's Jellybeans, participating in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. As we communicated with this family we learned just how important this event was for them, as their daughter, Jenna, age 7, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2008. It was quickly apparent to us that this was one of those jobs that we had to be a part of, and we jumped on the opportunity to design an awesome t-shirt for team Jenna's Jellybeans, because that is exactly what they deserved. “Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone essential to the ability to get energy from food. It strikes both children and adults suddenly and changes life as they know it forever. T1D causes lifelong dependence on injected or pumped insulin and carries the constant threat of complications. T1D cannot be prevented and there is no cure.

• 3,000,000 - the number of Americans who may have T1D
• 85% - the percentage of people in the U.S. living with T1D who are adults
• 30,000 - the number of people who are diagnosed with T1D in the U.S. every year - approximately 15,000 children and 15,000 adults
• 23% - the increase in T1D incidence in people under age 20 between 2001 and 2009
• $14.9 billion - the healthcare costs of T1D in the U.S. each year

The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes is a fun-filled charity walk held in locations all around the world. The Walk raises funds for the millions of people living with and affected by type 1 diabetes. Participants, walking alone or in teams, raise money for JDRF, the largest nongovernmental funder of T1D research. The Walk, their flagship fundraising program, is essential to JDRF's ability to award research funding and act as a powerful advocate in the T1D community

More than 200 Walks are held every year in the United States, and dozens more take place internationally. More than 900,000 people participate each year. Since 1992, the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes has raised more than $1 billion for T1D research, and has reached this milestone through the donations, large and small, raised by their walkers.” (Information obtained from: http://www2.jdrf.org)

Jenna's family started participating in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes after her diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in 2008. With this diagnosis Jenna has to check her blood sugar 10-15x a day, insert an insulin site and sensor (needle) into her body every few days, have extra supervision on field trips, after school activities, as well as play dates, and be careful about her sugar intake. Such a large responsibility for anyone to handle, especially at such a young age. For Jenna, the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes is a different day. It's a day where she can be surrounded by loved ones that support her as well as others that share the same diagnosis. It's a day where she can have fun and be a part of a community that share the same goal; to find a cure for diabetes. Her story was definitely one that touched our hearts and when we found out that the event was holding a contest for best t-shirt design, we poured all of our creative efforts in to creating a design that Jenna and her team would be proud to enter. When we found out that our design won, we were beyond excited and so happy that we could make this day that much more special for such an incredible little girl like Jenna.

Children like Jenna and the individuals that donate, participate, and educate on issues such as type 1 diabetes are truly an inspiration. It's causes like these that make us love what we do even more, especially when we are able to see our work come to life on a courageous little girl like Jenna. Even though we played just a small role, we are honored to say that we could in some way take part in such an amazing cause and hope that we can continue to do so for years to come.

To learn more about the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes and how you can help, visit: http://www2.jdrf.org