District Cabinet Meeting - Sunday, August 4, 2019
Diabetes Committee Report

The only big news the Diabetes Committee has to report (which hopefully you are already aware) is that 27 D-1 won the diabetes service project challenge for the last Lion Year. That means the committee has $500 to invest in learning materials and important methods to help spread the word to our district about diabetes.

I hope to meet with the committee soon to decide how to spend it. One possibility is to create another tri-fold display board.

I don't know if there will be another similar challenge next year, but I have a feeling there are going to be other districts hot on our tail to win, but I will try not to let that happen.

As you may know, there is no longer a Wisconsin Lions Diabetes Focus Group. It has been reformatted into the Hearing and Diabetes Committee of the WI Lion's Board (I think I have that right). The committee will include board members and will meet in the morning prior to each board meeting. I believe anyone is welcome to attend these meetings.

Hope you enjoy my brief presentation from 2019 Call to Congress at the Cabinet meeting.

Call to Congress, 2019

Presented by Lion Jill Kietzke, MSN RN

On March 27-29, 2019 I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Washington DC with the American Diabetes Association for Call to Congress, 2019. I was one of about 200 people invited to attend from over 5000 advocates around the country. I am extremely grateful for the willingness of the 27 D-1 executive board to help with my travel expenses so I could be a part of this empowering event. I promise to share my experience and knowledge with our D-1 communities, as well as the state and nation.

On the first day of this 3 day event, we were seated at tables with our other state advocates. There were 4 advocates total from Wisconsin. In addition to myself, there was a gentleman who is on the ADA Community Board of Directors, as well as his nephew Dyllan, who was diagnosed with T1D on the day before his 5th birthday (now age 12). There was also a researcher who is studying transplantation for treatment/cure of T1D.

As we sat with our state cohorts we prepped for “Hill Day” by planning our meetings. The kids (over half of the attendees were under the age of 25, all with T1D) got to go off with other leaders and made a banner about what they want legislators to know about living with diabetes. We got our individual leave behind sheets and also learned about the background of the ADA “asks”. These include:
     • $2.165 billion for diabetes research
     • $185 million for additional research
     • $30 million for Diabetes Prevention Program
     • Increase and renew the Special Diabetes Program, which focuses on racial disparities and additional research for the American Indian population. This program is currently funded until September 30, 2019 and needs to be renewed.
     • Insulin affordability, and DSMT (expanding access to diabetes education) legislation

Hill Day
After breakfast, we loaded several buses and were driven to the US Capitol building (facing the mall). After getting organized on the front steps of the capitol for a group picture, we headed to our individual appointments. For states that did not have representation at C2C, we were also assigned to leave behind packets at specific US Representative offices. We were able to cross between buildings through underground tunnels, and eat lunch in one of the buildings. Although we were supposed to have a meeting directly with Rep. Pocan, due to a pending vote we ended up meeting with a staffer, as well as with staffers in the Senate buildings for Sen. Johnson and Baldwin. When we met with Sen. Baldwin's staff we actually had a representative from the federal grassroots team of the ADA, as well as a professional photographer and marketing rep, due to her being notorious for being difficult to schedule meetings with.

* At Hill Day there were 2 exceptional stories we learned about, including a young lady with T1D from Minnesota who was casually offered 4 jobs at 4 different offices while conducting the Minnesota meetings. Another young lady from the south (Kentucky I think) was meeting with her senator when they were notified that he had to return to the capitol quickly to cast a vote. He invited her along, and they were whisked through more tunnels with Secret Service in tow to the senate floor, where she got to cast his vote for him and meet Sen. Nancy Pelosi!

There was a reception Thursday evening for networking, right at the hotel. All of the food was diabetic friendly and delicious, presented in beautiful displays complete with carb counts!

Call to Congress concluded on Friday with an opportunity to talk about “what to do now”.

Advocates have access to an advocacy calendar, with special webinars all year long that show how we can keep engaging in conversation about these important issues. These efforts will continue this month with Congress at Home. This is our opportunity to reconnect with our leaders/staff about these important issues. I am working on getting meetings scheduled and if able, I will try to get them posted on the Lion's website. I am open to have a few fellow community members who are impacted by diabetes join me. Also, as advocates, I have been invited to attend monthly call in meetings to discuss advocacy topics within a 10 state area.

Finally, the day culminated with a special talk from the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams. WOW!! It gives me chills even to this day when I heard him talk about how vital it is to keep our communities healthy, starting with us.

This leads me to a very important realization. We as Lion's have an amazing opportunity to participate in advocacy on behalf of our communities. I will continue to nurture this relationship and use it to help Lions make a difference! Thank you again for letting me share with you.

Lion Jill Kietzke, MSN RN
Diabetes Committee Chair

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