JDRF Walk Collage

2016 Walk Letter

Dear friends and family, 

It's the same Walk, supporting the same cause,...but now it's 2016.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) could have a cure. The JDRF One Walk doesn't have to continue year after year. 

There may already be a scientist out there with the idea that is the cure for T1D. JDRF could fund that research. And we could help.  


Please support JDRF, that scientist out there somewhere,...and Grace. Together, we can turn Type One into Type None.

Make a donation or join Grace's Walk team with the following link:

http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?fr_id=6333&pg=team&team_id=219752

With our sincerest gratitude, 
The Kuekers - Monique, Mike, Claire,...and GRACE!

Walk Day Details

JDRF ONE WALK SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

8:00 -9:45

Walker Check-In Opens

All participants, please check in!

Breakfast - Complimentary breakfast bars, bagels, fruit, and beverages (coffee, water, sodas)

Activities Area - Photo Booth, Slide, Bounce Houses, Obstacle Course, Balloon Artists, Airbrush and 

Temporary Tattoos, Temporary Hair Dye, Tie-Dye, and Arts & Crafts, Dunking Booth

JDRF Advocacy and Resource Tent

New Family Welcome Tents - Be sure and stop by!

V1P Tent - for individuals who raised $1,000 or more

Custom espresso drinks, Chick-fil-A breakfast, V1P gifts, meet Titan’s GM, Jon Robinson

Type 1 Diabetes Resource Booths

TrialNet Type 1 Diabetes Screenings

Team Photos and T-Shirt design contest entry - Enter the t-shirt design contest at the volunteer tent

9:45

Opening Ceremony

Walk Begins

Post-Walk

T-Shirt Contest Winners Announced

Snacks - Complimentary Pepsi beverages and Frito Lay chips

Food Trucks - food available for purchase

It's time for the JDRF Walk! We hope you can join us! We'll meet for a team photo at 9:00.

September 24, 2016

Check-in starts: 8:00 AM

Walk starts: 10:00 AM

Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park

Super G's Family!

2015 Walk Letter

 Dear Family and Friends –

This is the time of year for the JDRF One Walk, the time when we ask folks to donate money to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes (T1D). We've been doing the same thing for almost ten years, and it’s getting old. So this year, we want to do things a bit differently:
- I'm not obsessing about the walk letter. I'm typing this, checking for glaring errors, and then sending it out.  I usually agonize over every word; it’s a very emotional process. 
- I'm sending this letter to everyone in my email address book. I may have emailed you once six years ago, and you're getting this letter from someone you don't even remember. But, I decided not to judge who might or might not want to give to JDRF.

As we are approaching our JDRF support request differently this year, we are planning to respond differently:
- Anyone who makes a donation will get a signed photograph of Grace. Yes, that's a big deal.  Grace strongly dislikes having her picture taken, and she'll have to think about how great folks think she is every time she signs a thank-you photo.
- And...we are going to have a party! A month or so after the walk, we are going to invite everyone who donates $50 or more, and anyone who walks with Super G's team, to come to our house and celebrate the journey to find a cure. We haven't had a post-walk party before, but your support of JDRF and our family is definitely worth celebrating!

Your donation is very important to me personally. There is a lot of who I am tied to JDRF as an organization, due to all of Grace’s years living with T1D. Truly, even giving $5 in honor of Grace means so much. Your donation is what will help find a cure. And I really want a cure for Grace. Now.

Thank you for your support of JDRF and our family, whether it’s by making a $50 donation (or a $5 one!), joining Super G’s team to walk on September 26th, or sending thoughts and prayers our way. To make a donation or to join us at One Walk, go to Grace’s JDRF Walk page at http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/superG.  Please send any checks to JDRF Middle Tennessee at 105 Westpark Drive, Brentwood, TN, 37027.          

With sincerest appreciation –

The Kueker Family – Monique (the one at the keyboard), Mike, Claire - and, of course, Grace!

2015 OneWalk!

It's time for the JDRF Walk! We hope you can join us!

September 24, 2016

Check-in starts: 8:00 AM

Walk starts: 10:00 AM

Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park

2014 Letter for Grace

Dear friends and family,

It's the same story, same girl...but 11 years later.

It's the same disease with great advances in technology...but still no cure.

It's the same Walk supporting the same cause...but now it's 2014.

The next chapter in Grace's story could be different.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) could have a cure, instead of improved care.

The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes doesn't have to continue year after year.

The cure for T1D could be developing right now. There may already be a scientist out there with the idea which will become the solution. JDRF could help fund that research. And we could help.

Please support Grace, JDRF...and that scientist out there somewhere. Together, we can turn Type One into Type None.

Thank you for your love and support.

Best - The Kueker Family

Grace JDRF OneWalk Video 2014

Register for Grace's Team

This link takes you to the general registration page. (Or you might have to paste in your browser.) Join team and then search for Grace Kueker.

http://www2.jdrf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=walk_register&fr_id=3895

2014 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

New year, still moving for a cure! Join Grace on September 27th at the Capitol Bicentennial Mall. Registration starts at 8:30, Walk at 10:00. Donate to her Team by clicking on her photo.

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes 2013 Letter

Dear friends and family –

I started this year’s JDRF Walk letter writing of all the happy things about Grace, ending with a little note of how diabetes affects her life. I used the same type of upbeat tone last year. Then, I considered the reality of living with diabetes…there isn’t much that is “upbeat.”

Grace’s life with diabetes is NOT different this year. Her body still doesn’t produce insulin, which means wearing a pump, checking her blood sugar at least five times a day and making sure to count carbs for everything she eats. We still check Grace’s blood sugar in the middle of the night, sometimes waking her up to eat something for a low reading. Grace still has to go home from having fun sometimes, due to issues with diabetes care. We still get scared when Grace gets sick, because  a simple illness like the flu could mean a hospital visit. Not so upbeat.

The major difference for Grace this year is starting a new school. She has to explain all over again about that “thing” on her arm or leg, which is the pod with her insulin. Then there are the questions about finger pricks during the school day and the trips to the nurse’s office. Being different in middle school for any reason…not upbeat at all.

While Grace’s life with T1D may not have changed much in the past year, JDRF has helped make great strides in making life better for her and all those with Type 1 diabetes (now referred to as T1D). And, until there is a cure, research discovers ways to improve the lives of people with T1D.  JDRF is the leading global organization funding that research (over 100 million dollars last year), and 85% of the funds raised goes directly to research. Included in this letter is a research snapshot from this past year about what JDRF has helped make happen.

 Please consider making a donation to JDRF during the Walk to Cure Diabetes, an event that offers an “upbeat” day for people with T1D. And, if you live locally, consider joining us during a fun day to walk on September 28^th at Bicentennial Mall in downtown Nashville.

You can donate or register to participate with Grace’s Team online at http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR/Walk-TN/Chapter-MiddleTennessee4622?team_id=129906&pg=team&fr_id=2358. Or, you can mail a check to the JDRF of Middle Tennessee office at 105 Westpark Drive, Suite 415, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027, with Grace Kueker written in the memo line.

 As always, thanks so much for your support.

Best –

Monique, Mike, Grace and Claire Kueker

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes Dates

Nashville - September 29th

 

Kansas City - October 13th

 

Houston - October 27th

 

The Woodland - November 10th

 

Join Super G's Team by walking for us or with us! We would love to have you wherever you are!!

Look for the JDRF Chapter nearest you....

http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=100687

2012 Walk Video

Uploaded for folks who can't access YouTube from their devices. :)

2012 Video

Please take three minutes to watch the video we made for Grace this year. ;)

Dear friends  -

 

In August 2002, our lives became overwhelmingly different from what we ever imagined. Two-year old Grace got the flu, and she never got “better”; she developed Type 1 diabetes.  Now, Grace is eleven and doesn’t really remember what life was like before diabetes. So, we are asking you to help make Grace’s life overwhelmingly different from what she’s ever known by helping JDRF to find a cure for T1D.Every year, we participate in the JDRF Walk for the Cure and ask for your support. This year, we would like to ask you to donate not only thinking of her, but of our whole family…all of our lives will be joyfully different when there is a cure. We are so excited about the prospect….

When there is a cure for Type I diabetes, we will celebrate!

We will celebrate not writing a letter asking for donations every year! Maybe we will send timely Christmas cards? J

We will celebrate more sleep! No more blood sugar checks at midnight and 2 a.m.! (And at least 5 other times a day.)

We will celebrate not worrying about diabetes complications later in Grace’s life! This disease will not take her eyes, her heart or her life.

We will celebrate the extra shelf in our fridge and extra cabinet space! No more diabetes supplies to store.

We will celebrate the one step less in preparing for school each year! No letters for teachers. No emergency supply kit. No doctor orders or IEP meetings. No careful planning for all field trips.

We will celebrate freedom from diabetes issues at sleepovers! No worrying about what Grace is eating. No middle of the night calls to go change a pump site.

We will celebrate no more scars! Grace’s fingers, tummy and bottom will be free to heal.

We will celebrate Grace being able to follow her dreams and go to whatever kind of camp interests her without fears of adequate diabetes care! Marine biology anyone?

We will celebrate hiring a babysitter without having special training first! And celebrate not wanting to have a sitter for as long as Grace lives with us!

We will celebrate not counting carbs for every thing Grace eats! No wondering if we guessed right for that piece of sushi.

We will celebrate no extra worries when Grace is sick! The flu will be the flu, not laden with the threat of going to the hospital.

We will celebrate no longer having a glucagon pen and worrying that we will have to use it! That emergency will never happen.

We will celebrate Grace never feeling self-conscious with her peers about having diabetes! Things that make Grace different will not include a chronic disease.

We will celebrate life without constant fear! No worry about whether Grace will wake up in the morning.

Our biggest reason to celebrate will be having the biggest worry in our lives gone forever. (Yes, we know there will always be something else, but no more diabetes!!)

When there is a cure, we will celebrate. We will have a party and invite all of you.

JDRF is the leader in funding the search for a cure. By donating to JDRF, you are helping make an overwhelming difference in Grace’s life and ours. If you have donated year after year, thank you. If you have received our letter year after year and have had reservations about donating for whatever reason, we ask you to please consider again this year.  If this is your first year receiving our letter, thank you for being dear enough for us to ask. Any donation to JDRF is not only finding a cure, it is supporting our family – it is looking forward to that joyfully overwhelming difference with us.

Thank you for your consideration. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We look forward to a grand celebration.

With hope - Monique, Mike, Grace and Claire

Getting ready for the 2012 JDRF Walk

Hi friends.

I am working on our "real" JDRFWalk letter for this year. In the meantime, I realize the time for the Walk in Nashville is fast approaching.

We are displaced Middle TN walkers this year. We are choosing to walk virtually in Nashville, because that is still where we have our Type 1 support folks (who we miss terribly!). So, obviously we won't be in Nashville to walk with friends there, but that doesn't mean you can't walk for us! Please consider doing so...think of us and our many walks there, send pictures to make us smile. 

Also, feel free to donate before reading our "real" letter. They still take money for us, even if we haven't officially asked. ;)

Look for more to follow soon. Thanks.

Last minute Walk Day information

Click here for Walk Day info, including parking and directions...

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:25215.10743521033/rid:13c39f062b70b0972569c902ad9df1ee

the beginning of the "Super G" Team t-shirt

Want a Super G Team t-shirt? Let us know by 9/13, and we'll order one for you!

Please join us for the fun on Walk Day!