With 246 million people diagnosed with diabetes worldwide, chances are that you either have diabetes yourself or know someone who is living with the condition. Perhaps you’ve wanted to share your story and inspire others to successfully manage the condition but haven’t known where to start. Fortunately, now there’s a way to make a difference — by entering a submission in the Creative Expression Competition run by the global "Inspired By Diabetes" campaign, your words or artwork could be what it takes to change someone’s life.
The campaign is a collaborative effort between insulin manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company, the Unite For Diabetes initiative of the International Diabetes Federation, and the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes. It aims to “bring diabetes to the public’s attention, inspire action to improve diabetes care, and unite individuals, families and communities affected by diabetes around the world.” One of the main features of the campaign is the Creative Expression Competition, which calls for art, photography, poems, or essays depicting how people have been inspired by diabetes.
Children and adults who have been affected by diabetes — their own or someone else’s — are eligible to submit an entry. To see last year’s winners, find out more information, or download a submission form, visit www.inspiredbydiabetes.com. Entries, along with completed submission forms, must arrive at the address indicated on the form by March 31, 2009.
For every entry, Eli Lilly and Company will donate a dollar to the International Diabetes Federation’s Life For A Child Program, which supports much-needed diabetes care for children in developing countries. Eli Lilly will also make donations to the Life For A Child Program on behalf of the winners of the competition.
This blog entry was written by Diane Fennell, Associate Editor for Diabetes Self-Management magazine.
