JDRF Online Auction/Raffle & Children's Carnival
September 3 - 4, 2011
Casino Speedway

                

A message from Troy & Sarah Benson...

On March 2nd, 2009 our son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, he was only 6 yrs old at the time.  We had taken him into the Dr. thinking that he had a bad case of the flu, little did we know our life was gonna change forever.  He was so sick he was admitted to the ICU immediately and was hospitalized for 4 days.  As parents we asked ourselves why, did we do something wrong, was there something we could have done sooner to prevent this. 

At 7 years old now Darin's life has changed so much he now has to have atleast 5 shots a day and check his blood glucose level 4 to 7 times a day.  He is the strongest kid I know he has had so much thrown at him in the last year and he still keeps his spirits up.  But on a bad day he breaks down and the one thing he asks us is why he had to get diabetes and when they are gonna find a cure.  As his parents it breaks our hearts that we cant take his place or make him better. 

After lots of research on juvenille diabetes we found  JDRF or Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation.  Since we couldnt take this away for him we decided to do the next best thing, we started a fundraiser to raise money for JDRF and hope someday they will find a cure for not only Darin but the thousands of other kids who have this.  We call it Race for A Cure and in 2009 we started with a simple raffle, we received several donations and lots of support from local businesses and our family and friends. We ended up raising over $2100.00 but to us that meant we only had to do more this year and every year after until they find a cure. In 2010 we held a online silent auction and a children's carnival, along with our raffle and raised over $14,000. Our main goal this year is to top last year's total and go over $15,000 for JDRF. 

We are asking for any kind of donation you may be able to give us for the raffle or even to put on the silent auction. The purpose of the carnival is not only to raise money for a good cause but for Darin and other kids with diabetes to be able to have so much fun for one day that they will forget they have diabetes.  We will be doing several games with prizes for kids, as well as having several inflatables for the kids to enjoy. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you have anything you would be willing to donate for a good cause it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.... Troy & Sarah.