News & Events
A Partnership in Diabetes - Becton Dickinson Employees Walk in JDF Walkathon
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Contact: Virginia Tseperis Manager, Community Relations (201) 847-5364 Franklin Lakes, NJ (June 07, 1998) -- For years, Becton Dickinson associates have generously biked, walked and jogged miles to raise money for diabetes research. This year is no exception. Once again, a Becton Dickinson team will donate their unrivaled energy and good will to help others by participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDF) Walkathon, sponsored by the Rockland/Bergen/Passaic Counties Chapter of the JDF. The annual "Walk to Cure Diabetes" walkathon is being held on Sunday, June 7, at the Fairleigh Dickinson University campus in Teaneck, NJ. Two thousand people are expected, with over 80 corporate and family teams as well as individual walkers. The walkathon will raise money to support JDF's mission to find a cure for diabetes through research. This year, JDF will award $35 million to diabetes research from its walk program alone. Diabetes is a devastating disease that affects over 16 million people in the U.S. alone. Today, diabetes and its complications are the leading cause of death by disease in the U.S., as well as the leading cause of blindness. Children with diabetes face a lifetime of blood tests, insulin injections and restrictive diets. The only remedy is a cure. The Becton/JDF partnership is a natural one. Worldwide, Becton Dickinson is arguably the most important provider of disease management solutions for people with diabetes and their families. In addition to its products, educational and training initiatives and disease management programs, the company makes a major investment each year in the work of non-profit organizations like the JDF. Since 1990, Becton Dickinson has donated in excess of 1 billion syringes around the globe and contributed more than $7 million dollars. "Our company's long involvement in helping people with diabetes live healthy lives started right here in New Jersey, where we have our corporate headquarters and our worldwide diabetes business," explains Ken Weisshaar, President, Worldwide Consumer Health Care. "Over many years, we have been developing a unique relationship with our diabetes customers around the world, some of whom include our own employees and their families. This supports our goal as an organization to become the company most known for eliminating unnecessary suffering and death from disease. And it makes Becton Dickinson and JDF ideal partners in diabetes, given their mission to find a cure for diabetes through research," adds Weisshaar.
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