American Diabetes Association Selects Kentucky Native Justin Harris As Its National Youth Advocate

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Diabetes Association, the nation’s largest and leading voluntary health organization dedicated to the fight against diabetes, has selected Justin Harris, 15, of Lexington, Kentucky, to be the Association’s 2006 – 2007 National Youth Advocate. The announcement was made at the organization’s 3rd annual Community Volunteer Leadership Conference, held in Dallas, Texas. As the ADA’s National Youth Advocate, Justin, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 6 years old, will spend a year serving as a spokesperson for the Association, meeting with policy makers, promoting increased funding for diabetes research and prevention, and reaching out to young people and adults to encourage them to become involved in the fight against diabetes.

“For the past nine years Justin has led a tireless effort to combat diabetes in his community,” said Darlene Cain, Chair of the Board of the American Diabetes Association. “His passion and persistence in educating those around him about the seriousness of this disease is admirable. As National Youth Advocate, Justin is taking his commitment to the next level, advocating for all young people currently living with diabetes and strengthening support for diabetes research that will one day, hopefully lead us to a cure.”

An honor roll student and competitive tennis player, Justin has been an active volunteer for his local American Diabetes Association, serving as the Youth Ambassador for the Lexington Walk for Diabetes where he helped raise more than $30,000 for diabetes research and implementing a local School Walk for Diabetes. He also has met one-on-one with numerous policy makers to discuss diabetes, including the Governor and First Lady of Kentucky, a U.S. Senator, State Senators and Representatives, and a State Supreme Court Justice.

In his role as National Youth Advocate, Justin hopes to increase awareness about diabetes and the importance of diabetes research funding, and encourage more Americans, especially youth to become involved in the fight against this disease. He plans to meet with youth across the country, traveling to diabetes camps and school walks, keeping a journal of events he attends to post to his Youth Advocate page on http://www.diabetes.org/.

“The National Youth Advocate’s job is to help advocate for adults and children if they have diabetes or not — we need to get our message out,” said Harris, whose parents are Dave and Jennifer. “Every person with diabetes has a story to tell, and I want to hear those stories. I want to hear from them, but I also want to make sure their elected officials hear those stories too.”

Diabetes is one of this nation’s most prevalent, debilitating, deadly, and costly diseases. Nearly 21 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes and if present trends continue, one in three Americans, and one in two minorities, born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. In 2002, one in 10 healthcare dollars went towards diabetes care and the cost of diabetes was at least $132 billion.

The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization supporting diabetes research, information and advocacy. The Association’s advocacy efforts include helping to combat discrimination against people with diabetes; advocating for the increase of federal funding for diabetes research and programs; and improved access to, and quality care of healthcare for people with diabetes. The Association’s mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. Founded in 1940, the Association provides service to hundreds of communities across the country. For more information, please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit http://www.diabetes.org/. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.

American Diabetes Association

CONTACT: Zach Goldberg of the American Diabetes Association,+1-703-549-1500, ext. 2622, zgoldberg@diabetes.org

Web site: http://www.diabetes.org/