Miami, Florida – Thousands of people from across South Florida laced up their sneakers to help find a cure for diabetes at the 6th annual DRI Walk for Diabetes & Family Fun Day, presented by Walgreens earlier this month at Miami’s Marlins Park. Participants enjoyed a fun-filled day, which included a walk inside the state-of-the-art-stadium, a DRIRun4ACure 5K/10K/ and Kids’ Superhero Fun Run, vendor product sampling, free goodies, bounce houses, face painting, health booths, meet and greets with Everglades Squad Fan Page / The 501st Legion Star Wars characters, Billy the Marlin of the Miami Marlins, and much more. Through the support of community members in attendance, family teams, corporate teams, sponsors, and volunteers, more than $250,000 was raised for the cure-focused work of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI).
The event comes together each year thanks to great partnership between Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain; and the DRI, a Center of Excellence at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine. Through this unified effort, which includes the generous support of team fundraisers, Walgreens customers and associates who made donations by purchasing scannables at their local Walgreens stores, and corporate sponsors throughout the years, more than $1.7 million has been raised toward a cure since the inception of this event.
“We’re grateful for Walgreens, family teams, sponsors, and all who continue to grow this event and make it a special day for members of the South Florida community who are affected by diabetes,” said Diabetes Research Institute Foundation President and CEO Joshua Rednik. “This joint effort is helping us take one step closer toward our sole goal of developing a biological cure for the millions of people living with this difficult disease.”
“Walgreens is grateful to once again support the fundamental work of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine. We are thankful for the generosity of our patients, customers, vendors and associates, and their continued support of the DRI Walk For Diabetes & Family Fun Day, from their partaking on event day by creating awareness for a cure, to the contributions they’ve made through the “scannables” program,” said Roy Ripak, Walgreens Regional Vice President.
This year’s signature sponsors also included Walgreens, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Coca Cola, Island Planet, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Red Bull, Chelly Cosmetics, Omni Pod, the Miami Marlins, MultiRace and Sole Runners. As well as our media partners Comcast, Clear Channel Outdoor, iHeartMedia, Pinecrest Magazine and Entercom. All proceeds raised benefit the Diabetes Research Institute, the Best Hope for a Cure.
Anyone interested in supporting the cure-based work of the Diabetes Research Institute can visit DiabetesResearch.org, or call 1-800-321-3437 for more information.
About the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) and Foundation
The mission of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation is to provide the Diabetes Research Institute with the funding necessary to cure diabetes now. The Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine leads the world in cure-focused research. As the largest and most comprehensive research center dedicated to curing diabetes, the DRI is aggressively working to develop a biological cure by restoring natural insulin production and normalizing blood sugar levels without imposing other risks. Researchers have already shown that transplanted islet cells allow patients to live without the need for insulin therapy. Some study participants have maintained insulin independence for more than 10 years. The DRI is now building upon these promising outcomes by developing a DRI BioHub, a bioengineered “mini organ” that mimics the native pancreas. While various BioHub platforms are being tested in preclinical and clinical studies, the DRI is also developing strategies to eliminate the need for anti-rejection drugs and reset the immune system to block autoimmunity. For more information, please visit DiabetesResearch.org; call 800-321-3437, or Tweet @Diabetes_DRI.
About Walgreens
As the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2014 sales of over $76 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to be the first choice in health and daily living for everyone in America, and beyond. Each day, Walgreens provides more than 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,309 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 750 locations throughout the country.