#tbt American Diabetes Association: Father of the Year Awards
Twitter: @bastheboss_
Instagram: @bastheboss
Welcome back Champions!
We're back at it again this week with a little #tbt for you all, so I can talk about my latest advocacy event I attended a couple weeks ago for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in the Riverside County.
The Father of the Year Awards is held by the ADA and the National Father's Day Council every year, in cities across the whole country in recognizing men who have made their families a priority in their life, being outstanding community leaders, and being a leader and standing pillar in the diabetes community. The awardees are selected because their families and peers see them as role model fathers, not because of their specific career-related achievements.
The awards are a beautiful way of honoring fathers who do so much for their families and children, and their communities in giving back and helping us fight against diabetes. Thanks to the Father of the Year Awards, more than $35 million dollars have been raised to date, all going towards helping the ADA fund essential and crucial research, education and advocacy.
I was invited to speak at one of this years Father of the Year Awards, an event I look forward to every year. I have spoken at Father of the Year Awards before, one of the biggest one's being in Hollywood in 2014 when I was the National Youth Advocate for the ADA for a year, where I got to speak in front of Nick Jonas's, Bob Dylan's and Ryan Reed's family where their fathers where being honored for all that they do.
It's an incredibly humbling experience, and I was honored to be asked to come back and speak on behalf of my advocacy efforts, my recent trip to Capitol Hill for Call to Congress, and my experience with (diabetes) camp. I love being able to go around the country and speak on behalf of the ADA, to increase awareness and educate others about all that the ADA does and everything that we as advocates fight hard for. For me, it's important that I use my voice and fight for those who go unheard and who don't have the chance to speak on the platform that I have.
This year's honorees were:
- Jim Clover
- Micheal Downs
- Walker Evans
- Gary Romano
Every Father of the Year Award is a full house, filled with people who have diabetes or knows and loves someone who does. We all come together in one night to dispel the stereotypes, fight for change, advocate for others, and most importantly learn more about what we can do to fight diabetes.
Over the years, I've been incredibly lucky to learn that events such as these are not just areas where we talk and advocate, but honestly is a place where we can all come and di-stress the challenges and struggles that diabetes hands us everyday. It's a great time to laugh and get closer to others, to meet new people, and to do MORE for a community who does so much.
That being said, I really just want to thank the American Diabetes Association for all that they do, and the opportunities they give us advocates to go out and fight. The ADA has without a doubt helped shape the direction millions of people living with diabetes have taken, and have helped us with this frustrating disease and have made it a little easier to deal with. And of course, I want to thank Sheila Mazdyansi and Dayna Murphy for all their help and support and for such an amazing night this event was! Thank you for working so hard and doing all that you do for people living with diabetes!!!
I just wanted to share some fun photos that were taken at the event that night, and I hope that you all get to go to events near you - fundraisers, bike walks, speeches, talks, or sessions - no matter what we can all learn so much from educating ourselves - it is NEVER too late to learn something new!
I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week, and stay tuned for my next advocacy event!
All my love,
B
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"Because together we'll go from type one to type none!"