On-line Auction Benefit for Diabetes Research

Brenda Novak On-Line Auction for Diabetes Research

The Brenda Novak On-line Auction Anything benefit for Diabetes Research is in count down mode until the big day – Sunday May 1st, 2011. Just look at all the new items that have been rolling in. The auction will run the entire month of May. (Not all items – some are open for limited time.)In case you haven’t heard, last year they broke the $1 million mark (as a cumulative total) and set a new annual record by raising $303,000!! Brenda hopes that the seventh year will end in another new record, maybe one closer to $500,000. Please join with her in fighting to make a difference.

Brenda runs this fundraiser in honor of her youngest son, Thad, who was diagnosed with Type 1 at five years old (he’s now 14), and the millions of others who suffer from diabetes. The proceeds have one purpose—to help find a cure—and will go to the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami. Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research is a registered 501(c)3, so donations are tax deductible.

Glow Magazine Article about BN Auction Glow Magazine Article part 2

Save the Child is one of the items included in this auction along with other books from Writers Unite to Fight Cancer authors.

Brenda Novak Auction Flyer

Caring for Chronically Ill Children

This month we’ve been featuring Brenda Novak and her annual On-line Auction to benefit Diabetes Research. The reason she chooses this cause is because her son has Juvenile Diabetes. More that 50 million Americans are caring for a spouse, parent, or relative with a serious illness. Particularly difficult challenges I’ve noticed with the aging boomer population is when a couple is nearing or at retirement age and one or both of them are experiencing health problems, and / or they have elderly parents that require assistance. Many times because of the economy or other circumstances their adult children have moved back home.

When your child has a developmental or cognitive disability this adds an additional strain. Now you are not only concerned about caring for them until they become an adult but also through their entire life. Yes, all parents love and worry about their children and grandchildren, but it is not usual to have to literally plan out and carry the financial, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burden throughout their entire lives. Parents special needs individuals realize they will probably not live long enough to shelter and provide for their beloved child. I’ve witnessed aging parents barely coping with their own illnesses, and lingering on because they can’t let go of the the responsibility of the child they’ve cared for for over forty to fifty years.

Author and journalist Gail Sheehy identifies eight crucial stages of caregiving in her book Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidnece. Diane Rehm interviewed Gail Sheehey on NPR. She draws on her experience caring for her husband, the founder and editor of New York Magazine, Clay Felker. Even though her advice is focused on caring for the adults and elderly, it still applies to the caregiver that also has younger relatives and children that require their assistance.

Seeking out qualified help is essential to survival in this kind of financial, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual storm.

Below is a list of links that may be helpful to the reader or someone they know. The important part to remember is to take care of yourself – the caregiver. When you fail to do that there is no one left to care for the others and you become the burden.

National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) socialworkers.org

National Association for Home Care & Hospice

Working Caregiver

American Association of Daily Money Managers

Disability Resources

The ARC of the United States