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Dreamer brings diabetes awareness event to area
By TERRY CASEY
UPPER MERION -
Most people wouldn't allow a 6-year-old to give tattoos to a hundred people. But Jenna Scarsi isn't most people - and the tattoos were temporary.
Yesterday morning, Scarsi and about a dozen volunteers filled the hallway of King of Prussia's United Artists with her interactive health fair, a program aimed at raising awareness about diabetes. At the station labeled "Healthy Eating," 6-year-old Carlos Franco quizzed passers-by on their knowledge of the food groups with flash cards. "If they get it right, I give them one of these," he said, pointing to a pile of temporary tattoos. While his Olney Elementary school nurse, Helen Robinson, supervised, Franco ambitiously doled out information packets and trinkets donated by Bayer HealthCare to everyone within reach.
The event was the brainchild of Scarsi and her husband several years ago as an annual event in the Chicago suburbs. However, last year she was the recipient of the Bayer Dream Fund - a $100,000 prize for someone with diabetes to live out his or her dream. Scarsi's dream, she said, was to take her program, Lights, Camera, Cure, on a five-city, cross-country tour. King of Prussia was the second stop after Indianapolis last month.
One of the last stations gave visitors the chance to write down their dreams. Some were more fun: to fly, go to Italy, and be a skateboarder. Others were more serious. "My dream is to find a cure for childhood cancer," one visitor wrote. Every visitor who stopped at all stations was in the running for a flat-screen television. "The kid that won the TV, it was bigger than he was," Scarsi said. "He had to get someone to carry it out for him.
At the end of the fair, participants were invited to a private screening of Surf's Up, an animated family film starring Jeff Bridges and James Woods.
Proceeds from the event will benefit Stroke, Spin, Stride, the diabetes training camp for athletes with Type 1. Founder Dr. Matt Corcoran, who was also a volunteer at yesterday's event, said 22 campers from 16 different states would be attending the Allentown-based fitness camp, which begins today. "There's the world of medicine and the world of exercise. They're two different worlds and we try to bring them together," he said. He added that diabetes education is worked into the weeklong program to help established athletes learn how to perform well with diabetes.
Scarsi said the event went "really well," adding people learned a lot about diabetes and preventing it. As for next year, she and he husband have not yet completed their plans, but said Bayer has promised a little seed money to continue the program. "It will live on," she said.
The Bayer Dream Fund is now accepting applications for the 2007 contest. Any individual who uses a Bayer blood glucose monitor and manages their diabetes well is eligible, according to www.bayerdreamfund.com
Here Are Some Great Articles about Lights, Camera, Cure:
Dreamer brings diabetes awareness event to area
By TERRY CASEY
UPPER MERION -
Most people wouldn't allow a 6-year-old to give tattoos to a hundred people. But Jenna Scarsi isn't most people - and the tattoos were temporary.
Yesterday morning, Scarsi and about a dozen volunteers filled the hallway of King of Prussia's United Artists with her interactive health fair, a program aimed at raising awareness about diabetes. At the station labeled "Healthy Eating," 6-year-old Carlos Franco quizzed passers-by on their knowledge of the food groups with flash cards. "If they get it right, I give them one of these," he said, pointing to a pile of temporary tattoos. While his Olney Elementary school nurse, Helen Robinson, supervised, Franco ambitiously doled out information packets and trinkets donated by Bayer HealthCare to everyone within reach.
The event was the brainchild of Scarsi and her husband several years ago as an annual event in the Chicago suburbs. However, last year she was the recipient of the Bayer Dream Fund - a $100,000 prize for someone with diabetes to live out his or her dream. Scarsi's dream, she said, was to take her program, Lights, Camera, Cure, on a five-city, cross-country tour. King of Prussia was the second stop after Indianapolis last month.
One of the last stations gave visitors the chance to write down their dreams. Some were more fun: to fly, go to Italy, and be a skateboarder. Others were more serious. "My dream is to find a cure for childhood cancer," one visitor wrote. Every visitor who stopped at all stations was in the running for a flat-screen television. "The kid that won the TV, it was bigger than he was," Scarsi said. "He had to get someone to carry it out for him.
At the end of the fair, participants were invited to a private screening of Surf's Up, an animated family film starring Jeff Bridges and James Woods.
Proceeds from the event will benefit Stroke, Spin, Stride, the diabetes training camp for athletes with Type 1. Founder Dr. Matt Corcoran, who was also a volunteer at yesterday's event, said 22 campers from 16 different states would be attending the Allentown-based fitness camp, which begins today. "There's the world of medicine and the world of exercise. They're two different worlds and we try to bring them together," he said. He added that diabetes education is worked into the weeklong program to help established athletes learn how to perform well with diabetes.
Scarsi said the event went "really well," adding people learned a lot about diabetes and preventing it. As for next year, she and he husband have not yet completed their plans, but said Bayer has promised a little seed money to continue the program. "It will live on," she said.
The Bayer Dream Fund is now accepting applications for the 2007 contest. Any individual who uses a Bayer blood glucose monitor and manages their diabetes well is eligible, according to www.bayerdreamfund.com