Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes

Team Melissa Chere

On October 9, Team Melissa Chere took part in Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes at Knott's Berry Farm. This day also happened to be the two month mark of my journey with diabetes, which made it all the more touching for me. I was honored to have a wonderful group of family and friends walking alongside me in hopes of finding a cure. 

I am very thankful for the time and effort spent in preparation for this event. As soon as I posted a link on Facebook to my Step Out page, there was an outpouring of support from my family and friends. We had virtual walkers from Alaska to Northern California. My amazing friends came together, committed to raising funds for research and hopes of a cure. I feel incredibly blessed by the prayers, well wishes, and financial support from all of these people. I am proud to say that our team raised $3382 for the American Diabetes Association-- a huge feat given the current state of our economy!

While our team was focused on fundraising, two of my dear friends were working hard on designing a graphic for our team shirts. The final design depicts two bears holding a flag scrawled with the letters "IDDM" for insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. They wanted to personalize it for me, so one bear is wearing flip flops, while the other bear is wearing skates-- two things I love! :) The best part of the design? The bears are a play off of Rufus-- the bear that is given to newly diagnosed children in the Bag of Hope. The bear is a "grown-up" rougher version of this character, complete with hearts on his paws, to symbolize my new diagnosis. Needless to say, I love the completed design! These guys have a tremendous amount of talent and creativity. I know how much effort goes into artwork and I am thankful that they took time out of their hectic schedules to create these meaningful team shirts!

The cutest virtual walker!

The morning of the walk was sheer madness. My family is typically late to events, so, when a newborn baby is thrown into the mix... things get crazy. My mom kindly offered to watch her grandson while the rest of our family walked. We wanted to snap some family pictures with our virtual walkers before we headed out the door, but, before we knew it, our cell phones were buzzing with teammates wondering where we were. Oops!

My family

Luckily, we made it in time for all of the festivities. We spotted our teammates, including my best friend's mom who had thoughtfully grabbed me breakfast at the Corner Bakery booth. I snagged a coffee (my weakness) and we were on our way. Cheerleaders rooted for us as we made our way under the arches. We walked through the park with hundreds of others affected by this disease. It is amazing to see how many lives have been touched by diabetes-- especially being surrounded by all of these people in one venue! I am so happy to see such a large number of advocates out there fighting!


We came to the finish line and were greeted by a mini-festival. The grounds were covered with informational booths, a setup for the Biggest Loser, the Lakers girls, and lunch, courtesy of Pat and Oscar's. The children had a costume contest, which was followed by the team shirts contest. Which reminds me, I saw an amazing team shirt that will forever make me laugh. It read: Hey, Sugar! We like it down low! Very creative! It was a wonderful day and a great reminder of the support and love I have been shown by my family and friends.

My beautiful sister was out there walking two weeks post-baby!

To my team and donors: Thank you for giving so much of yourselves. You guys are the reason that I have hope that there will one day be a cure. I love you guys!

"Breakthroughs don't happen because of medicine. Real breakthroughs happen because someone is scared to death to stop trying." -Derek Shepherd, Grey's Anatomy