Advocacy Blog

Your Latest Meeting Digest

Amanda Stratton — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:11:38 GMT

It is the end of the week, which means that it is time for another Promise meeting digest! The feedback from recent Promise meetings is continuing to come in, and I wanted to make sure that you had a chance to read some of the amazing stories. Check out our latest list of recently completed meetings below, and don't forget to vote for your favorite story in the Promise Story Contest!

OH District 16 advocates with Representative James Renacci (OH-16)

#JDRFac2012: Preventing Type 1 Diabetes!

Hasan Shah — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:49:00 GMT

#JDRFac2012 is a blog series to prepare JDRF’s ‘All For 1’ Annual Conference attendees for their time on Capitol Hill, and to educate you as readers on why JDRFers will be on the Hill on your behalf and how you can help.

Last week, I shared with you the monetary investment made into in T1D research by not only JDRF supporters but also by the NIH, through the Special Diabetes Program (SDP). This week we’ll take a look what that investment is getting us.

The snippet below provides an update on research advances and opportunities in the area of preventing T1D that have been supported by the SDP:

Hasan Shah
JDRF Advocacy

JDRF Press Release Thanks Congress

Hasan Shah — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:58:00 GMT

Check out the official thanks from JDRF to Congress for its support of the Special Diabetes Program (SDP). Some great highlights on why the SDP is important to T1D and how Congress is supporting it.

You can also thank Congress by visiting our call-to-action page and send a quick email to your Members of Congress. Have a great weekend and stay tuned for more SDP info in the coming weeks!

Hasan Shah
JDRF Advocacy

This Week's Promise Digest

Amanda Stratton — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:31:51 GMT

Now that the Promise Campaign has officially concluded, the meeting feedback is starting to roll in! I wanted to quickly share with you some of the meetings we have posted recently. These are great examples of advocates doing their part to make sure their Members of Congress remember them when faced with diabetes-related issues on Capitol Hill.

After you check out these summaries, don't forget to vote for your favorite entry in the Promise Story Contest!

Young JDRF advocates with Senator John Cornyn (TX)

Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Representative Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8)
Representative John Garamendi (CA-10)
Representative Jim Costa (CA-20)
Representative Brad Sherman (CA-27)
Representative Karen Bass (CA-33)
Representative Janice Hahn (CA-36)
Representative Laura Richardson (CA-37)
Representative Grace Napolitano (CA-38)
Representative Linda Sanchez (CA-39)
Representative Doug Lamborn (CO-5)
Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT)
Representative Ander Crenshaw (FL-4)
Representative Phil Gingrey (GA-11)
Representative Colleen Hanabusa (HI-1)
Representative Mazie Hirono (HI-2)
Senator Daniel Inouye (HI)
Representative Michael Michaud (ME-2)
Representative Justin Amash (MI-3)
Representative Fred Upton (MI-6)
Senator Carl Levin (MI)
Senator Jon Tester (MT)
Representative Virginia Foxx (NC-5)
Senator Kay Hagan (NC)
Representative Louie Gohmert (TX-1)
Representative Kenny Marchant (TX-24)
Senator John Cornyn (TX)
Representative Jason Chaffetz (UT-3)

#JDRFac2012: Partners for the Cure

Hasan Shah — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:35:00 GMT

In June, JDRF’s chapter staff and volunteer leaders will converge on Washington, D.C. in part to meet with their legislators regarding the need to renew the Special Diabetes Program (SDP), a key federal program that accounts for 35% ($150 million) of the type 1 diabetes research portfolio at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). JDRF and NIH have one of the world’s most effective public-private partnerships focused on curing a disease. In fact, JDRF provided $116 million in FY 2011 for T1D research to complement the federally-supported research. However, if the SDP is not renewed, key SDP-supported trials will be disrupted or halted completely and JDRF will not be able to fill the gap.

We need your continued help this year to ensure that we capitalize on the investments to date and achieve our mutual goal of better treatments and a cure for people with diabetes. Follow along in this blog series as I share bite size pieces of information that will allow of us to become better informed advocates for advancing T1D research. For starters, check out the graphic below:

Hasan Shah
JDRF Advocacy

JDRF Annual Conference: Help Get Ready

Hasan Shah — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:16:57 GMT

In June, JDRF’s Annual Conference will be held in Washington, D.C. and you can help us get ready for it – visit our call-to-action page and send a message of thanks to Members of Congress who supported the Special Diabetes Program (SDP) letter recently issued by the House and Senate Diabetes Caucuses.

JDRF’s volunteer leaders and staff will ask Congress to continue its support for the Special Diabetes Program during their time in Washington and your messages of thanks before they get here would allow them to have more effective meetings. Please send the ‘thank you’ email now; it’ll only take 30 seconds!

As of today, 270 House members and 71 Senate members have signed on to the SDP letter. Thank them for recognizing the importance of this vital diabetes research funding program and read more about it on the call-to-action page!

As always, please help us spread the word by sharing this blog-post via email or sharing this link on your favorite social media site: http://bit.ly/IeP8Xt

Hasan Shah
JDRF Advocacy

Your Final Promise Total & How You Can Still Participate

Amanda Stratton — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:55:04 GMT

The 2011-12 Promise to Remember Me Campaign has officially concluded! The Campaign ended today, and a record number of meetings have been scheduled with Members of Congress. Check out the video below to find out the the final meeting total and to see how you can still participate:

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Head over to the Promise Story Contest page to check out some of the already submitted stories and vote for your favorites! Be sure to check out the contest rules, and send us an email at advocacy@jdrf.org if you have any questions.

Thank you again for helping us reach 458 Promise Campaign meetings!

Last Day to Schedule Promise Meetings!

Amanda Stratton — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:43:00 GMT

I wanted to quickly remind you that today is the LAST DAY to enter any remaining Promise meetings!

Campaign coordinators must have the meetings entered by 11:59 pm to count for the Promise Campaign. Remember, these meetings just need to be scheduled by that deadline to count towards our totals and can occur after the campaign's official end. The last remaining meetings have already been rolling in, bringing our campaign total to 453. This is 21 over our initial goal of 432 and 3 over the new goal!

Thank you again for all of your hard work that brought us to not just one, but two campaign goals. Check out the blog tomorrow to see our campaign total!

Advocates Making a Difference for Research: Your Promise Digest

Amanda Stratton — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:00:51 GMT

As the Promise Campaign comes to a close, we are continually reminded of how big of an impact these meetings make on legislators. As you may have already heard, the majority of Congress - 71 Senators and 269 Representatives - signed the letters in support of the renewal of the Special Diabetes Program. These amazing results are due to your emails, phone calls, and Promise meetings! Meeting with advocates as a part of the Promise Campaign over the past month was exactly what legislators needed to sign onto the letters. For example, when Promise advocates met with Senator Lindsey Graham in the airport, he signed the letter right there!

Check out how other advocates made a difference for research by reading some of the recently completed meeting summaries below. Stay tuned to the Promise Campaign website and this blog to see when we will hit our new goal of 450 meetings: we are at 449, so we are so close!

Senator Lindsey Graham (SC) signs the letter recognizing the importance of the Special Diabetes Program

One Week to Go!

Amanda Stratton — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:08:29 GMT

The 2011-12 Promise Campaign is almost complete! Having already passed our initial goal of 432 meetings, we have now set our sights on holding 450 meetings with Members of Congress. The Campaign ends on May 1, meaning we have just one week to go to reach our new goal!

Members of Congress are currently in DC, but we can still absolutely reach our new goal. In order to count towards the Campaign total, meetings just need to be scheduled by the May 1 deadline and can occur afterwards. We currently have 443 meetings scheduled, meaning we only need 7 more to reach 450!

Don't miss out on your chance to participate in Promise this year! Send me an email at advocacy@jdrf.org if you can help get a meeting scheduled with your Member of Congress in this last week of the Campaign, and we will get you set up with everything you need to make a difference for those living with type 1 diabetes.

JDRF Advocacy on #DSMA Radio

Hasan Shah — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:41:00 GMT

In case you missed it, I wanted share with you a recording of a weekly online radio show broadcast by Diabetes Social Media Advocacy Live (DSMA), where yours truly was invited to talk about our advocacy efforts.

I had a great time talking with Cherise Shockley, the founder of DSMA, and one of the co-host and d-bloger, Scott Johnson. We covered topics from our various advocacy programs to current and ongoing campaigns.

Take a listen, the feedback has been great and hopefully you’ll get a few laughs too… be sure to leave me a comment below! =]

Hasan
JDRF Advocacy

Your First Post-432 Meeting Digest

Amanda Stratton — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:53:31 GMT

Even though we have reached our goal of 432 meetings, Promise Campaign coordinators are continuing to schedule as many meetings as they can with Members of Congress! The Campaign currently has 439 meetings, which is only 11 away from our new goal of 450. While we wait to see when we will reach that number, check out some of the recently completed meetings below:

JDRF advocates pose at their meeting with Senator Michael Enzi (WY)

Representative Jerry McNerney (CA-11)
Senator Michael Bennet (CO)
Senator Chris Coons (DE)
Representative Daniel Webster (FL-8)
Senator Pat Roberts (KS)
Representative John Sarbanes (MD-3)
Representative Betty Sutton (OH-13)
Representative Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1)
Representative Diane Black (TN-6)
Senator Michael Enzi (WY)

Important: Need your help by tomorrow to support diabetes research

Aaron Kowalski — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:43:46 GMT

Thanks to the hard work of many of you across the country, nearly the majority of Congress has signed a letter addressed to congressional leadership acknowledging the important research contributions of the Special Diabetes Program (SDP), such as the artificial pancreas.

However, to make sure that diabetes research continues to receive strong congressional support, we need you to email your Member(s) of Congress and ask that they also sign on to the letters issued from the House and Senate Diabetes Caucuses, by this Friday, April 20.

For more information on the SDP and to watch a video message from me, visit the call-to-action page. Help JDRF Advocacy spread the word by sharing the following text on your favorite social media sites or online support groups: ‘Contact Congress and ask it to acknowledge the importance of supporting diabetes research at http://bit.ly/xUq1Dc.’

Thanks for your support!

Dr. Aaron Kowalski
Asst. VP, Treatment Therapies
On behalf of JDRF Advocacy

Dr. Kowalski Video: Ask Congress to Support T1D Research

Hasan Shah — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:04:00 GMT

Yesterday we had Dr. Aaron Kowalski, JDRF’s Assistant VP of Treatment Therapies, in our JDRF Advocacy office. I took the opportunity to capture some video thoughts from Dr. Kowalski on why we need to make sure we keep working to support diabetes research where ever possible.

See the video below and then click through to take action by contacting Congress and ask it to support diabetes research. The letter we’re asking Congress to support for diabetes research closes this Friday, April 20, please take action now!

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Hasan Shah
JDRF Advocacy

What We Need to Reach 450

Amanda Stratton — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:30:00 GMT

At the beginning of the Promise Campaign, we told you that we need YOU for 432... and you definitely stepped up to the challenge! I want to thank you again for helping us reach our goal of meeting with 432 Members of Congress, which we reached yesterday afternoon with two weeks left in the Campaign.

However, we can't let up yet! Even though we reached our goal, there are still Members we need to meet with to talk about importance the Special Diabetes Program. This program funds research at NIH that is bringing us closer to a cure and new treatments for type 1 diabetes. The SDP even funded research into the artificial pancreas technologies that are addressed by the draft guidance issued by the FDA last fall. The remaining two weeks of the Promise Campaign present the perfect opportunity to tell your Members of Congress how much the renewal of this vital program means to you!

Thus, we have set a new goal for the Promise Campaign: 450 meetings scheduled or held by May 1, 2012. This means we need 18 more beyond our initial goal. While this may seem daunting, scheduling this many meetings in the final weeks is absolutely doable! To reach 450, we need to schedule:

9 meetings per week
Just over 1 meeting per day

During the 2010 Campaign, coordinators scheduled 88 meetings in the month of April, and we would only need to schedule less than half of that this time around to reach 450. 18 meetings were scheduled so far this month to bring us to 432, and campaign coordinators have already scheduled 3 more meetings since yesterday afternoon. That brings our grand total 435, and means we have 15 to go to reach 450!

Can you help us get 15 more meetings to reach our new Promise goal? Send me an email at advocacy@jdrf.org to let me know you would like to help, and we will get you set up with everything you need to spread the word about the Special Diabetes Program!