BOY RAISES FUNDS FOR RESEARCH; 11-YEAR-OLD SPORTS FAN STAYS ACTIVE WITH DIABETES BUT AIMS FOR CURE IN HIS LIFETIME.Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer Blake Lezak loves soccer, and he's looking forward to flag football this semester and basketball during the spring. ``I've been playing soccer since I was 4 or 5 in a community league, and this year we started soccer teams at school,'' said Blake, a sports-loving 11-year-old. ``The thing I would like most if I didn't have diabetes would be the freedom - the freedom of not having to take the drugs or test your blood all the time. It ties you down.'' Blake developed diabetes after a flulike virus damaged his pancreas, the insulin-producing gland, when he was 8. Since then, he has been among about 800,000 insulin-dependent diabetics who live by rigid schedules dictated by daily peaks and valleys in their blood sugar. Blake recently received an insulin pump insulin pump n. A portable device for people with diabetes that injects insulin at programmed intervals in order to regulate blood sugar levels. the size of a pager attached to an intravenous needle. Carried around his waist and tucked beneath clothing, the pump lets him easily dispense his daily insulin. Before that, he relied on hypodermic needles hypodermic needle n. 1. A hollow needle used with a hypodermic syringe. 2. A hypodermic syringe including the needle. and vials of insulin. Blake, a fourth-grader at Meadow Oaks School in Calabasas, has learned to live with diabetes, but he dreams of days without needles and injections. In pursuit of that dream, Blake has become an active fund-raiser for the Juvenile Diabetes juvenile diabetes n. Insulin-dependent diabetes. Foundation. This Sunday, Blake will lead about 1,500 walkers in the foundation's 1997 Walk to Cure Diabetes. The foundation's Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Chapter will sponsor walks at Oxnard State Beach Park in Ventura County and at Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large public park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,210 acres (17 km²) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. and Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (rĭdŏn`dō), city (1990 pop. 60,167), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1892. Once a commercial port for Los Angeles, it is a residential and resort city with a protected harbor and an excellent marina. in Los Angeles County. Blake was named the foundation's youth ambassador after raising the most money during last year's walk. ``Last year, I raised a little over $5,000 . . . and my goal this year is $7,000,'' Blake said. ``I'm going door-to-door in my neighborhood, and I've put letters in every mailbox A simulated mailbox in the computer that holds e-mail messages. Mailboxes are stored on disk as a file of messages, a database of messages or as an individual file for each message. The standard mailboxes are usually In, Out, Trash and Junk (Spam). . We've even mailed some letters out of the country through my father's work. And everyone in my school got a letter. . . . I want to help find a cure.'' In his letter, Blake explains that diabetes affects 16 million Americans, many of them children and toddlers. Walkers can make a tax-deductible contribution, in any amount, in a check payable to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Last year, Ventura County walkers raised $126,000. The Los Angeles Chapter raised $755,000. In 1996, money raised by the foundation paid for $31.3 million in diabetes research worldwide. Through a peer-review system, the foundation funds the most promising research in 15 countries, including work in 29 U.S. states A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States, although four states use the official title "commonwealth". The separate state governments and the federal government share sovereignty, in that an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and and four provinces in Canada. For 25 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time foundation has also lobbied the federal government to increase research funding Research funding is a term generally covering any funding for scientific research, in the areas of both "hard" science and technology and social science. The term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and from $18 million to $300 million. As Blake does, the foundation now focuses its efforts on a cure. With a campaign titled ``The Only Remedy is a Cure,'' the foundation is striving to raise $200 million by 2000. Walkers can help add to that pot by joining in Sunday's festivities fes·tiv·i·ty n. pl. fes·tiv·i·ties 1. A joyous feast, holiday, or celebration; a festival. 2. The pleasure, joy, and gaiety of a festival or celebration. 3. , Blake said. ``Teachers from school are coming to walk, friends. And, of course, my family is coming to walk,'' he said. ``I want everyone to come out and donate money to help find a cure.'' THE FACTS WHAT: Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's Walk to Cure Diabetes. Walkers collect sponsorships for 5-kilometer or 10-kilometer distances. WHEN: 10 a.m. Sunday; registration at 8:30 a.m. WHERE: Oxnard State Beach Park INFORMATION To make a donation, make a check payable to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, in care of Blake Lezak, 5602 N. Winton Court, Calabasas 91302, or in care of Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, 1020 S. Arroyo Parkway, Suite 200, Pasadena 91150. Donations sent to Blake will help him achieve his $7,000 goal. For more information, call the foundation at (818) 403-1480. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: (colorr) At 11, Blake Lezak of Calabasas is already a fund-raising leader for diabetes research. Behind him are his parents, Cheryl and Daniel. Phil McCarten/Daily News Box: THE FACTS (see text) |
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