Twinning Mitzvah Project

As many of you know, our dad was recently diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  But what some of you may not know is that Type 1 Diabetes runs in our family.  Our Uncle Mitchell was diagnosed when he was 10 years old.  And our cousin Joey was only a baby when he was diagnosed. They call themselves “The Diabetic Club.”  And while we all know clubs are fun to be a part of, this one really isn’t.

Like our uncle and cousin, our dad now has to test his blood many times a day and give himself insulin shots to keep his blood sugars stable. We can’t just stop at Carvel (which most of you know we love to do ) without him testing his blood and giving himself enough insulin to cover the ice cream cone. Luckily he has been able to manage his diabetes, but it isn’t always so easy. For some people, many of which are children, managing diabetes can be a very difficult thing to do. 

In our cousin Joey’s case, his blood sugars would be very unstable especially while he was sleeping at night and didn’t know it. And this is where the idea to get an alert dog came up. Diabetic alert dogs are trained to sense a change in sugar levels. And if they detect a high or low, they will alert their owner.  Our cousin Joey got his alert dog Mozzy last year. 

Most diabetic alert dogs are very expensive costing families upwards of $20,000. Heads Up Hounds is a wonderful organization because it rescues dogs from shelters and pounds, which helps save the life of many dogs. Heads Up Hounds trains dogs as diabetic alert dogs at a lesser cost than is usual. Mozzy has made a big difference in Joey’s life and as our mitzvah project, we wanted to help make it possible for other children to get diabetic alert dogs. These dogs can help make managing diabetes so much easier and improve the quality of a diabtetic person's life. We plan to keep you posted as to the difference this fundraising effort has made in the lives of diabetic children. You can read more about the organization and some of the children who are trying to raise funds to get a dog at the web site  http://www.headsuphounds.com/

Thank you for considering making a donation to this important cause. 

Love,
Charlotte & Sophia Spiegel