ADVOCACY SPOT MESSAGES

Purpose of Document: Support embedding “information spots” about advocacy at Association events (great to increase awareness of our work and show donors how their gifts make a real difference for people with diabetes.) How to use:

·  Include individual verbal “Did you know?” announcements throughout an event.

·  Insert individual text “Did you know?” messages throughout an event printed program or slideshow.

DID YOU KNOW? ADVOCACY SPOT MESSAGES – for print or announcing at events:

Becoming a Diabetes Advocate is the “busy person’s way to make sure your voice is heard.” Our action alerts will tell you when to weigh in, and will start a letter for you that you can modify and send immediately by email to your elected official. Sign up today (state where/how).

Federal funding for diabetes research and programs is not proportionate with the costs of the disease – whether measured in dollars and cents or in human suffering. Sign up to be a Diabetes Advocate and help us be a champion for federal funding to prevent and cure diabetes. We need your voice!

By signing up to become a Diabetes Advocate, you will get advocacy updates and action alerts that provide information about pending issues, and help you create and deliver timely messages to your elected officials. (Mention where to sign up at your event and/or provide this URL: www.diabetes.org/takeaction)

If every American with diabetes held hands, the chain would sadly stretch halfway around the globe – become a Diabetes Advocate and make a difference for the over 30 million people with diabetes and another 84 million with prediabetes!

Sign the petition to tell Congress to expand funding for diabetes research & prevention programs, including those at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sign the petition to tell (your state’s) legislators that our kids with diabetes need to be Safe at School – because diabetes doesn’t take a recess!

The Association’s Diabetes Advocates fight to Stop Diabetes® wherever public policy is made - from Capitol Hill, to statehouses, courthouses, school boards and municipalities around the country.

The American Diabetes Association Advocates for all people living with and at risk for diabetes, working in four areas*:

1.  Fighting discrimination

2.  Preventing diabetes

3.  Improving access to health care

4.  Increasing funding for diabetes research and programs

*It is important to note that, in all 4 of these focus areas, there is an ongoing commitment to ending health disparities.


People with diabetes may face discrimination – at any age, in any place. When children are not safe at school or an employer says “no one with diabetes need apply”, the American Diabetes Association steps in to fight for fair treatment for all people living with diabetes.

People with diabetes can call 1-800-DIABETES for help in fighting discrimination. And they do! Our Call Center gets hundreds of calls a month about discrimination because of diabetes.

Many people are able to fight discrimination on their own – by visiting www.diabetes.org or calling 1-800-DIABETES. If they get stuck, our Legal Advocates, who are attorneys, provide individualized information and resources.

The American Diabetes Association attorney network includes close to 1000 attorneys nationwide – people who are willing to stand up and fight for fairness.

Our Safe at School campaign provides workshops for parents and school personnel. We’ve fought in states across the country to advocate for legislation and regulations to ensure all children living with diabetes are safe at school.

The American Diabetes Association advocates for federal and state funding for (your state’s) Diabetes Control Program. This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program helps address local challenges, by increasing access to diabetes care and treatment and promoting public awareness about diabetes and its complications.

Diabetes Advocates helped pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care & Education Affordability Act of 2010. Today, people can no longer be denied insurance or forced to pay more for coverage simply because they have diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association has won numerous victories in our fight against employment discrimination based on diabetes. Thanks to our efforts, individuals with diabetes are able to pursue careers based on their ability to do the job.

Thanks to Association advocacy 33 states now meet our 3 Safe at School tenets as of August 2017 --keeping kids with diabetes safe while having same access to educational opportunities and school-related activities as peers.

The American Diabetes Association works across America to support healthy schools in our fight to Stop Diabetes.

Since 1940, the American Diabetes Association has been educating medical professionals and setting standards of care for people with diabetes.

Too many families must send their child to school worrying no one will be there to help with insulin or to administer life-saving glucagon in an emergency. Some students who are able to self-manage their disease aren’t allowed to do so. And some children are told they can’t go on field trips – or even that they aren’t welcome at their local school – simply because they have diabetes. Our Safe at School campaign is fighting to change this!