Knights of the Blind

A scene as it might be viewed by a person with...

A scene as it might be viewed by a person with diabetic retinopathy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On 30 June 1925, blind and deaf Helen Keller charged Lions to be “Knights of the Blind.”

Frankfort Lions have a tradition of focus on service projects related to supporting the blind. Among them is the Sights and Sounds raffle in April, the Candy Day collection on street corners around town in October. Another is STRIDES: Lions and Lincoln Way Walk for Diabetes Awareness.

Why support STRIDES, and why make people aware of diabetes?  Before answering that question here are some statistics from the American Diabetes Association. The answer follows.

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Data from the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet (released Jan. 26, 2011)

Total prevalence of diabetes

Total: 25.8 million children and adults in the United States—8.3% of the population—have diabetes.

Diagnosed: 18.8 million people

Undiagnosed: 7.0 million people

Prediabetes: 79 million people*

New Cases: 1.9 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older in 2010.

* In contrast to the 2007 National Diabetes Fact Sheet, which used fasting glucose data to estimate undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes, the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet uses both fasting glucose and A1C levels to derive estimates for undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes. These tests were chosen because they are most frequently used in clinical practice.

Under 20 years of age

  • 215,000, or 0.26% of all people in this age group have diabetes
  • About 1 in every 400 children and adolescents has diabetes

Age 20 years or older

  • 25.6 million, or 11.3% of all people in this age group have diabetes

Age 65 years or older

  • 10.9 million, or 26.9% of all people in this age group have diabetes

Men

  • 13.0 million, or 11.8% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes

Women

  • 12.6 million, or 10.8% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes

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The answer for why the Frankfort Lions promote STRIDES.

Blindness (taken from the ADA website to read the entire article click here)

  • Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years.

  • In 2005-2008, 4.2 million (28.5%) people with diabetes aged 40 years or older had diabetic retinopathy, and of these, almost 0.7 million (4.4% of those with diabetes) had advanced diabetic retinopathy that could lead to severe vision loss.

    Donate to STRIDES

    Proceeds from STRIDES is donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the American Diabetes Association

Watermelon Salesman

     Thank you, Dan Rather. You gave me this inspirational idea. Do you ever really know what you are getting when you purchase a watermelon?  It has a very thick skin that is very solid and green. It can look very tasty from the outside, but are you ever sure of how ripe it is on the inside? The watermelon is a perfect example to explain the current healthcare plan that Congress is pouring down our throats for our own good. Who knows what evil lurks inside the two thousand plus pages of the gobble-de-gook language of a Harvard lawyer. It may be the best thing ever presented to the American people, or it can be the worst. How do we know? How will we know? When will we know?  I guess we will have to believe just like the followers of one Jim Jones, and swallow the cool-aid to find out.

     This morning, I got a rude awakening from a health care provider. It is no secret that I have Medicare as my primary insurance. Ii carry a secondary private policy to cover what the wonderful Medicare does not. I would prefer to buy my own healthcare insurance, but when a person turns sixty-five in the USA, it is his obligation to swallow Medicare. That is wrong, I am not obligated to take Medicare, but since I pay for it with my taxes, I feel that I am entitled to get it. I am not rich enough to buy it on my own.

     I called the healthcare provider to order diabetic testing supplies.  I have some experience with diabetes, having raised a child from the age of five who had type-one diabetes. I know the value of testing blood to determine where the sugar level is. Also for years, I preached to my son on the value of knowing his blood sugar so he could adjust his insulin level appropriately. When I became diabetic, I decided I had better walk the talk. For the past five years, I have tested myself three to four times a day. I use my sugar level to decide when to eat, how much to eat, and what to eat. I have maintained a normal A1C level (long-term blood sugar level) for five years.

     Why do I do this? I do it because diabetes is the scourge of the human body. It is the number one reason for new blindness in the United States. It is the number one reason for the amputation of a person’s foot. It is a cause for kidney failure. Diabetics are almost guaranteed to suffer a stroke or heart attack. The list of body damage and collateral diseases is long. I figure that it is much healthier to live with testing and adjusting my diet than it is to let the disease go rampant. My quality of life is much better also.

     So, this morning when my provider told me that Medicare only pays for a single blood test every day, I became incensed. What will happen when Obama care cuts another five hundred billion dollars out of the Medicare budget?  I shudder to think of what will happen if you are a type-one diabetic and Obama care dictates to you how often you can test.  It is my prediction, that with universal health care and the shortage of doctors it will create, and treatments it will dictate we get, that diabetes will be a death sentence like it was before the invention of insulin.

     There is nothing like moving backward a hundred years in the name of CHANGE and improvement.

Wanna buy a rotten watermelon for a hundred bucks?

Have Fun and Win $10,000.00 Too

Join us at the 28th Annual Frankfort Lions Charities Sweepstakes Dance on Thursday September 3, 2009. Purchase a sweepstakes ticket and get a chance to win $10,000.00, as well as entry to the dance for two people. Dance the night away to the music of Brother John.

2009 Sweeps Ticket

Tickets are $20.00 each. We limit ticket sales to 2000. Your odds of winning are very good. There are six other cash prizes as well.

Send a check made out to the Frankfort Lions Club for 20.00 and I will send you a ticket. Contact me via e-mail jsr@mortyangel.com

Frankfort Lions Club

 

Great Odds, Big Prize

Lions Logo
Lions Logo

In nineteen forty, a small group of men chatted over a beer. The subject was how to make a difference with their lives. One had heard of Lions Clubs, and suggested that they form a club in their town of Frankfort, Illinois. By the spring of nineteen forty-one they chartered the Frankfort Lions Club, and adopted the Lions motto “We Serve.” Over the years, the club grew to have more than a hundred members. Their primary mission was directed toward helping people with blindness and vision problems. It remains the focus of the club to this day.

The club required funds to serve the growing needs of the community. Again, they discussed the matter over a few beers, and the idea came to them to hold a raffle. Members brain-stormed a formula for raising money that has served them well for the last twenty six years. It was simple, Lions sell tickets for twenty dollars apiece, but limit sales to two thousand. The idea grew. Why not rent the entertainment tent for a dance on the Thursday before the Frankfort Fall Festival begins? They would serve beer, food, and hire a band. A single sweeps-ticket will allow a couple to enter. On that night, Lions, friends, and neighbors fill the tent. They dance, listen to the lively music, or just socialize. The grand finale is the draw of the winning tickets.

Initially, first prize was a new car, but inflation took over, and cars became too expensive. First prize is now ten thousand dollars in cash, with thirty-one hundred and fifty dollars of additional prizes. Lions continue to limit the ticket sales to two thousand. It makes the odds of winning good. The sales effort is more challenging because the club membership is down to forty. The decrease in members is typical of service clubs around the United States. In spite of fewer members, and the reduced value of the dollar cutting the charities budget, the Frankfort Lions Club continues to “Serve.” Please help support by participating in the “27th Annual Charities Sweepstakes Dance,” Thursday, August 28, 2008.

For more information on where to buy tickets visit our website at http://www.frankfortlionsclub.com

Dancing the Night Away

Having a Beer and a Ball

Having a Beer and a Ball

In nineteen forty, a small group of men chatted over a beer. The subject was how to make a difference with their lives. One had heard of Lions Clubs, and suggested that they form a club in their town of Frankfort, Illinois. By the spring of nineteen forty-one they chartered the Frankfort Lions Club, and adopted the Lions motto “We Serve.” Over the years, the club grew to have more than a hundred members. Their primary mission was directed toward helping people with blindness and vision problems. It remains the focus of the club to this day.

The club required funds to serve the growing needs of the community. Again, they discussed the matter over a few beers, and the idea came to them to hold a raffle. Members brain-stormed a formula for raising money that has served them well for the last twenty six years. It was simple, Lions sell tickets for twenty dollars apiece, but limit sales to two thousand. The idea grew. Why not rent the entertainment tent for a dance on the Thursday before the Frankfort Fall Festival begins? They would serve beer, food, and hire a band. A single sweeps-ticket will allow a couple to enter. On that night, Lions, friends, and neighbors fill the tent. They dance, listen to the lively music, or just socialize. The grand finale is the draw of the winning tickets.

Initially, first prize was a new car, but inflation took over, and cars became too expensive. First prize is now ten thousand dollars in cash, with thirty-one hundred and fifty dollars of additional prizes. Lions continue to limit the ticket sales to two thousand. It makes the odds of winning good. The sales effort is more challenging because the club membership is down to forty. The decrease in members is typical of service clubs around the United States. In spite of fewer members, and the reduced value of the dollar cutting the charities budget, the Frankfort Lions Club continues to “Serve.” Please help support by participating in the “27th Annual Charities Sweepstakes Dance,” Thursday, August 28, 2008.

For more information on where to buy tickets visit our website at http://www.frankfortlionsclub.com