Last month Kate and her family brought home this adorable Australian Labradoodle named Mackey.
Mac, Mackey or Macintosh was part of an event called Spring Fling, which takes place each April in Half Moon Bay, California. Spring Fling is a 16 hour event that includes a golf classic, lunch and shopping boutique and an evening bash-with all proceeds going to benefit JDRF, the leading funder of research aimed at finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. Kate's older sister Mary was diagnosed with this auto-immune disease when she was in 1st grade. Until there is a cure found she must inject insulin in order to stay alive, while carefully balancing her food intake, stress and exercise to keep her blood sugar levels even. Type 1 diabetes is different than type 2 diabetes, which is often a result of poor lifestyle choices, like diet and exercise.
The ChAngels have helped support Spring Fling and the Walk to Cure Diabetes to raise awareness and Mackey did his part too by staring in the live auction. It was a big surprise that Kate's family won him and now ChAngels meetings often involve a puppy playdates! Welcome, Mackey-you are a ChAngel at heart!
You can learn more about JDRF type 1 diabetes and Spring Fling here.
