Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway Vice President and COO Bob Galterio’s daughter Cara was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes at age nine, and the longtime sports executive immediately was compelled to take action to fight the disease.
So, “Cure for Cara” was born. That was 13 years ago, and on Sunday, October 6, more than 2,500 Empire City employees, volunteers and participants will gather at Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, to take action in the Walk to Cure Diabetes for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Galterio will serve as captain of the “Cure for Cara” team.
More than 2,500 walkers representing local corporations, families, schools, and other organizations are expected to participate in the Westchester County Chapter of the JDRF annual Walk to Cure Diabetes, on Sunday, October 6, 2013 at Empire City. Registration opens at 9 a.m. and the walk starts at 10 a.m. The fundraising goal for the chapter is to realize nearly $650,000 for research to find a cure for diabetes and its complications.
To register now and participate, sponsor the event, build a Walk team, or for more information, please visit www.walk.jdrf.org or call the JDRF Westchester County Chapter at 914-686-7700.
“It’s great to be partnering with JDRF and working together on such an important goal – curing a disease that kills one American every three minutes. The recent statistics are staggering and reveal that health care expenditures surrounding diabetes cost our nation more than $174 billion,” said Galterio, also the Corporate Walk Chair. “These are the reasons we are committed to raising money for the cutting-edge research that JDRF funds. By working together, we can make a difference.”
In addition to wide-spread corporate support, entire families from kids to grandparents take part in the fundraising efforts of the Walk to Cure Diabetes – many affected themselves by the disease. However, even those who are not among the 17 million Americans with a personal connection to diabetes come out to support the cause. At the Walk, there will be games, vendor booths, pony rides, live music, and food.
“JDRF is immensely appreciative of Empire City’s participation,” said JDRF Executive Director Margie Ostrower. “This is corporate citizenship at its finest. The commitment of Bob Galterio and his employees enables us to accelerate research to find a cure for diabetes. Insulin is not a cure, merely life support for the estimated 3 million Americans suffering from type-1 diabetes and its complications. Research is the only answer.”
Local JDRF Walk Sponsors include Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway, Bleakly Platt, Entergy, Brown, Gruttadaro, Gaujean, Prato LLC, Westchester Medical Center, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and WestMed.
JDRF Walks are held in more than 200 cities worldwide. Nearly 500,000 people nationally walked last year and raised $90 million to cure diabetes.
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF’s goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people’s lives until we achieve a world without T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure T1D.
As the largest charitable supporter of T1D research, JDRF is currently sponsoring $530 million in scientific research in 17 countries. In 2012 alone, JDRF provided more than $110 million to T1D research. More than 80 per cent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and research-related education. In 2012 Forbes magazine named JDRF one of its five All-Star charities, citing the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)