2017 JDRF Recap

The 2017 JDRF "year" for the Shapiro's and Jessica's J-Walkers, was a very busy and enjoyable year - for the most part.  We took park in a lot of different events, fundraisers and raised a lot of money for JDRF to help people with T1D (Type One Diabetes).

The year started off with an unfortunate, impromptu fundraiser, when Jess's grandmother - Paul's mom - Helen passed away in early January at the age of 94.  A supporter of JDRF herself, the patriarch of the Shapiro family left a strong and positive impact on all she touched and raised her children in a way that has helped them become the successful adults that they have been. Mom, Grammy, GG, Aunt Helen - was a remarkable person and is dearly missed.

In February, Paul was one of the organizers behind the first ever JDRF Los Angeles art show.  The show was a lot of fun, with a large turnout, over 150 pieces of art and a nice profit for the organization.  It was a true learning experience and although a tremendous amount of work, will be repeated in 2019.

During the spring and summer, Paul prepared for his 2nd JDRF bike ride. In September, he was proud to complete the entire 100 mile course in Saratoga Springs.  And Jess helped make the weekend special by volunteering at the rest stop at mile 40/60 and Janice joined in the festivities for the weekend.  Saratoga Springs is a very cool town and would make for a nice visit another time.  Paul is looking forward to starting training for the 2018 JDRF ride season.

In October, Jessica's J-Walkers participated in their 15th JDRF Walk, and raised over $30,000 for the year.  That brings the total to over $550,000 in total walk fundraising as the LA Walk seeks to raise over $1.6m.  Our team once again included some of our former coworkers at Verizon Digital Media Services walking as Digital Diabeaters.  We also were able to increase our impact by taking advantage of a challenge match offered by our friends at Kaden's Krusaders to double our donations because of a very generous donor.

Paul continues to serve on the Board and was honored to be named the LA Volunteer of the Year at the June Board of Directors meeting.  He is also an active member of the corporate committee and serves on the executive and nominating committees.

Besides all of the work that we did, JDRF continues to justify these efforts by seeing the release of  the Artificial Pancreas by Medtronic.  There are many other trials and research projects under way and we look forward to seeing the next developments in the ongoing struggle to cure T1D and help the lives of Jessica and others with T1D.