Spare_A_Rose_2I spent an evening this week helping Benny write out his Valentine cards. Star Wars and Avengers, thank you very much. Yes, it matters who gets Iron Man or Yoda.

While I love that second graders around here still exchange cards, I’m not crazy about the fact that my 8-year-old with type 1 diabetes will also come home today with lots of candy. But he uses an insulin pump, we’ve had lots of education and we’re careful.

We’re also extremely lucky.

There’s a wonderful effort this Valentine’s day to help people with diabetes who aren’t as fortunate.  The diabetes community is helping the Life For A Child program. It’s sponsored by the International Diabetes Federation which helps established diabetes centers care for children. These are kids that need everything: meters, strips, insulin, syringes, education for their families. Living with type 1 diabetes is difficult enough with good medical care. I can’t even imagine how tough it is without the basic supplies.

They are (and now I am) asking you to think about this in the simple terms of a dozen roses you might buy this Valentine’s Day. Maybe save just one rose to spare the life of a child.  Called “Spare a Rose, Save a Child” it’s pretty simple: buy one less rose this Valentine’s Day and share the value of that flower with a child with diabetes in the developing world.

You can find out more about this at Sixuntilme. That’s where Kerri Sparling writes, “it shows that the diabetes online community takes care of one another, both online and off.”

We do.  Happy Valentine’s Day!