dLife Today: Lilly for Life

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Lilly for Life

Posted by dlife on Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 03:21 PM | Digg This! | Send to Newsvine | Add to del.icio.us

Eli Lilly has announced the 2006 recipients of the company's annual LillyforLife Achievement Awards, which "honor the inspiring achievements of people who make lasting personal or professional contributions to the diabetes community." You may recall that dLifeTV won in the journalism category last year. This year, dLife columnist and blogger Amy Tenderich won journalism accolades for her work at diabetesmine.com.

The official press release from Eli Lilly:

Lilly Announces LillyforLife™ Achievement Award Winners
Program Honors Outstanding Personal and Professional Achievements in Diabetes

INDIANAPOLIS – Building on its longtime leadership and commitment to improving diabetes care, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) today announced five winners of the 2006 LillyforLife™ Achievement Awards. The winners include a teenage singer and actress with diabetes; a recently retired rehabilitation counselor who, though blinded by the disease, assists others with disabilities; an internationally recognized pioneer of pediatric diabetology; a devoted mother of a woman with type 1 diabetes; and a journalist with diabetes who started a successful web log (blog).

The LillyforLife Achievement Awards honor the inspiring achievements of people who make lasting personal or professional contributions to the diabetes community. Nominees were judged by a panel of diabetes care advocates in five categories: Young Champion with diabetes (age 17 and under); Adult Achiever with diabetes (age 18 and over); Professional Hero (health professional, educator, advocate); Friendly Face (caregiver, spouse, partner, friend); and Journalism.

Each winner receives a $1,500 cash prize (or an equivalent donation made in their name to the charity of their choice; the prize for the professional category is automatically donated) and an etched trophy. The winners were recognized at an awards banquet on Sept. 6 in Indianapolis.

The 2006 LillyforLife Achievement Award recipients:

Jessica Stone, Agua Dulce, Calif., was the winner in the Young Champion category. An 11th grade honor student, Stone has overcome several health challenges while managing her diabetes. She volunteers at diabetes camps, is an accomplished singer and actress and voices the Disney Channel character “Stanley” in the children’s animated series.

Patricia Ann La France-Wolf, Temple City, Calif., was named winner in the Adult Achiever category. Diagnosed with diabetes when she was 2, La France-Wolf pursued a career in nursing. When diabetic retinopathy took her vision, she became a rehabilitation counselor and has devoted her new career to assisting people with diabetes-related disabilities.

Dr. Arlan Rosenbloom, Gainesville, Fla., is the winner in the Professional Hero category. An innovator of programs for children with diabetes, Rosenbloom started the pediatric diabetes program at the University of Florida, pioneered the team approach to pediatric diabetes care, and founded Florida’s camps for children with diabetes. Dr. Rosenbloom is an Adjunct Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of Florida.

Julia Ziemieski, Plainfield, Conn., was named winner in the Friendly Face category. A devoted mother, Ziemieski has provided unwavering support to her daughter with type 1 diabetes. Her daughter credits Ziemieski with providing the strength, hope and ability to help her manage this disease.

Amy Tenderich, San Francisco, is the winner in the Journalism category. Tenderich, who has diabetes, founded the diabetes blog “DiabetesMine.com” in 2005. From product reviews to personal accounts and interviews to the most up-to-date diabetes news, Amy reaches people with diabetes and the general public with her accurate and timely reporting.

In addition, Lilly also presented two special awards at this year’s recognition banquet:

An honorary LillyforLife Award to an assistance dog who saved the life of her owner. By pressing “9” on the telephone, “Belle” summoned help for her owner Kevin Weaver, of Orlando, Fla., who has type 1 diabetes and fell unconscious due to a severe low blood sugar reaction. Both Belle and Weaver were present to accept this special recognition – a set of engraved LillyforLife dog tags for Belle.

The newly established “Jack McCarthy Lifetime Achievement Award” was given to its namesake Jack McCarthy of Wichita, Kan. Beginning in 2007, the award will be given annually to acknowledge a person with diabetes who during his or her lifetime has made outstanding contributions to the diabetes community. McCarthy, 73, has type 1 diabetes and was singled out for this honor because of his passionate commitment to inspire and energize others with the condition. In 1996, he gained significant public attention for diabetes by walking from his Kansas home to Atlanta for the Summer Olympics, highlighted by walking a leg of the Olympic Torch relay. In the decades since, he has continued to encourage and educate people about diabetes, a commitment that Lilly is pleased to recognize with this new award.

“The LillyforLife Achievement Awards demonstrate Lilly’s long-standing commitment to the improvement of diabetes care and education, and provide an opportunity to recognize the good work of people in individual communities,” said Ron Hoven, Insulins Brand Director, Eli Lilly and Company. “Diabetes can be a difficult disease to manage, but with proper blood sugar control, people with diabetes can succeed and live full, active lives. The stories of these winners should serve as inspiration to us all as we strive to improve the care of people with diabetes.”

Lilly for Life

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