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Barrie Member of Parliament Making a Difference in the Fight Against T1D One Stride at a Time

Toronto, Ontario (October 29, 2012) Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament for Barrie Ontario and Chair of the All-Party Juvenile Diabetes Caucus on Parliament Hill is running in the ING New York City Marathon to create awareness for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and raise vital funds that will help JDRF support world class T1D research.

Several years ago, Patrick met a young constituent, Rebecca Morrison from his riding. Rebecca explained to Patrick how difficult it is for young Canadians living with T1D. Sydney Grace, another local Barrie youth, made a scrapbook describing what it is like to live with T1D and how Canadians are challenged by it every day. Recently, Patrick had the pleasure of meeting another young constituent, Noah Stock and his dad Jay. Noah has shared with Patrick what it is like to be a young child living with T1D.

“Sydney, Rebecca and Noah have certainly made a strong case for why Canada can do more on the T1D research front” said Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament for Barrie, Ontario. “Their stories drive my commitment to raise awareness for T1D and their strength and courage are constant reminders to me to try and secure additional research funding on Parliament Hill in order to win this battle.”

“As a result of the hard work and determination by Diabetes Champions such as Patrick Brown, JDRF is able to raise awareness of T1D and has increased funding for diabetes research in Canada” said Andrew McKee, President and CEO, JDRF Canada.

T1D is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. T1D usually strikes in childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood, and lasts a lifetime. Just to survive, people with T1D must take multiple injections of insulin daily or continually infuse insulin through a pump. More than 300,000 Canadians are living with T1D.

About JDRF

JDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Driven by passionate, grassroots volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is now the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. The goal of JDRF research is to improve the lives of every person affected by T1D by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners who share this goal.

Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.6 billion to diabetes research. Past JDRF efforts have helped to significantly advance the care of people with this disease, and have expanded the critical scientific understanding of T1D. JDRF will not rest until T1D is fully conquered. More than 80 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education.

For more information, please visit www.jdrf.ca.

For More Information:

Erinn Piller
National Communications Manager
JDRF Canada
647.789.2368
epiller@jdrf.ca

Samantha Flynn
Parliamentary Assistant to Patrick Brown, MP
613-992-3394
patrick.brown.a2@parl.gc.ca

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