Laura’s marathon

“Enclosed please find our donation of 28 of checks totalling 1,169.50 USD, each check made out to the World Diabetes Foundation.” With these words Julie Burns from Lovingston, Virginia, USA, begins a letter addressed to the World Diabetes Foundation.

Julie Burns is the mother of 21 year old Laura Burns, who for the past six months has studied in Buenos Aires,  Argentina.  The letter of support WDF received July 2005 was the culmination of a fundraising campaign Laura started by asking people to sponser her as she ran her first ever marathon.

One dollar per mile

Laura herself started the whole fundraising by writing to friends and family members living all over the U.S. She encouraged them to donate 1 dollar for every mile she ran in a marathon held in Rio de Janeiro in June. In the letter she explains:
“The poverty that I see everyday is very disturbing. I wanted to do something while I am here and living such a privileged life. I decided that I would like to combine two passions of my life, running and helping others.”

     
21 year old Laura won a medal in her age group while participating in the Rio de Janeiro marathon.

Laura had her own personal reasons for choosing the World Diabetes Foundation as the recipient of the funds she was eager to rise during her marathon:“The actual reason I got inspired to fundraise was that while I was out of the country my mother contracted Type 1 diabetes suddenly. My mother is able to survive because she can inject herself with insulin. It touches my heart to think that in Third World countries, such as Argentina, children, as well as adults who contract Type-1 diabetes die. Why? It is because they cannot afford or access the medicine.”

Laura didn’t witness the poor conditions of diabetes treatment in developing countries first hand; “I will say, however, that I was able to experience poverty first hand as it exists in the developing world. I had the opportunity to volunteer with an indigenous community in the Argentinean province of Misiones, and they are in dire need of proper medical care.  I can understand how health problems such as diabetes are not understood or treated properly in places like this - in remote villages throughout the world.”

Running rewarded

Running has been a passion for Laura for years. She is currently a member of the Varisty Cross Country team at Emory University, located in Atlanta, Georgia. About the 26,2 miles of Brazilian roads and landscapes she had to conquer Laura says; “The marathon itself was one of the most amazing and hardest things I have ever done.  There were moments when I was in so much pain all I wanted to do was collapse, and there were moments when I was so happy and overwhelmed I felt like I was flying.”

There were several great moments in the marathon: “Running through the Flavela, a ghetto, and having all the little kids come out to scream and give us high fives, and running along the beautiful beaches and looking down the cliffs and the waves breaking in. It was an amazing way to see Rio de Janeiro. “

In the weeks after she finished her marathon, in which she came in third in her age group, checks and letters kept coming to her mother in Virginia. Laura’s fundraising resulted in 28 checks donating a total of 1,169.50 USD for the World Diabetes Foundation.

Her favourite letter was from a friend who told her: "I was so impressed by Laura's letter, her engagement in a culture's plight and her willingness to take a step toward healing.  The future is in good hands.  We are pleased to be part of the support network."

“It is something anybody could do”

Laura’s initiative has a broader perspective. Even as important as raising money is the creation of awareness which is one of WDF’s important goals. Through her fundraising, Laura has been able to educate 28 people and their families and friends about the state of diabetes in developing countries.

September 2005 Laura returned to Emory University, where she is majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture and Society. She is scheduled to graduate in May of 2006. The World Diabetes Foundation has decided to let the money she collected be part of a coming project donation that will help children with type-1 diabetes in Tanzania.

“I would just like to say that what I did is not anything special and really did not even require a ton of work.  In other words, it is something anybody could do with a little imagination and an address book full of friends and family to write letters to”.