UH students stepped up for the Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes on Saturday at Minute Maid Park.
“We’re here to support the walk and to do an assignment for our class,” senior basketball players Adam Brown, left, and Alandise Harris said. | Lauren Mathis/The Daily Cougar
UH’s Cougars for Kids, which raised $3,490, contributed to the total of $10,722 raised by UH representatives.
“The funds that were raised for this event will go toward research to find cures for the different types of diabetes and to fund awareness programs for people at risk of developing the disease,” member of Cougars for Kids and communications and marketing manager for the College of Technology Sharon Lahey said.
Now that this year’s goal is completed, Lahey wishes for another accomplishment.
“Cougars for Kids hopes to become the supporting organization behind a yearly effort to support this walk and to eventually encourage 10,000 people from the UH community to walk,” Lahey said.
Raising money was the main priority, but some, like UH mathematics senior Daniel Ortiz, walked to support his family.
“I signed up for this because of the cause and I have family members that have diabetes and some who have died from complications,” Ortiz said. “I think people with and without diabetes need to be educated about the disease, and I think this (event) will help.”
Free screenings for blood pressure, glucose and BMI were available at the event, along with sugar-free and healthy snacks, which were good for people like Ken Cole, captain of local bicycling team Team Red.
Cole, whose family has a history of Type 2 Diabetes, made a decision to change his life around after being diagnosed in January of 2007.
“I knew I needed to figure out what I could do to get healthy, so I could live a better and healthier life,” Cole said.
Director of Cougars for Kids Jerry Evans thinks more needs to be done to raise awareness of the effects of the disease.
According to 2010 figures from the American Diabetes Association, diabetes kills more Americans each year than AIDS or breast cancer combined, Evans said.
“In fact, one in three children will develop diabetes in their lifetime if current trends continue,” Evans said.
However, Evans still sees hope through events like the walk, which brings people together.
“The good news is that something can be done to beat diabetes,” Evans said. “Our challenge is to keep up the good fight until victory has been achieved and this will happen if Americans join in and work together.”
