Saturday night, November 14th, the Empire State Building was in blue to shine awareness on Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day.
Since we opened our doors in 1971, LLoyd has embraced the spirit of giving. In 2016, second generation leadership, made that cause personal when brothers Keith and Jason Banks launched LLoyd’s Placement with a Purpose Program focusing on Type 1 Diabetes. “LLoyd has always been socially involved with an emphasis on charitable efforts” said Keith Banks, President, “We decided we wanted to have a direct connection to a cause that mattered to us personally and to focus on one cause in a bigger way than to make smaller contributions across a broad range of platforms.” The Banks brothers chose the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to be the benefit of the Placements with a Purpose program which donates to JDRF for each hire the firm makes with a client company and for each temporary associate billed out on a client assignment. “Diabetes touched us directly” says Jason Banks, EVP. “Our mother, great grandmother and close family friends have all had to manage the life of a diabetic. It always remained private and within our family as a kind of silent disease. When we lost our mother in 2012 to a sickness that was complicated by diabetes, we suddenly realized how great her battle had always been and how she fought it every day with a smile and without fuss.”
Though the 2020 pandemic has restricted some external fundraising employee activities, the LLoyd staff continues to advocate awareness for those living with Type 1 Diabetes and creating a safer and healthier environment for them.
T1D for many years was often associated and referred to as “Juvenile Diabetes” because onset of this autoimmune disease frequently showed itself in children; but Type 1 diabetes strikes kids as well as adults. There is no age distinction and it often comes on suddenly, causes independence on injected or pumped insulin for life and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes are not the same. T1D lasts a lifetime and is the result of the pancreas stopping insulin production, a hormone people need to get energy from food. T2D is a metabolic disorder in which a person’s body still produces insulin, but is unable to use it effectively.
2020 is LLoyd’s 5th year of partnering with JDRF – the leading global organization funding T1D research. Its’ goal is to find an eventual cure, fueled by scientific research, regulatory impact and a better understanding of this life changing disease. Says Keith Banks, “When companies do business with LLoyd, we are helping to do something good with their investment in our services. Corporate social responsibility is a LLoyd core value and giving back to the community truly matters to us. 2020’s theme has been in-this-together, that goes not just for the pandemic, but for raising awareness for many autoimmune diseases which can complicate a Covid19 diagnosis.”
Jason Banks notes, “We’ve worked with both the Long Island and South Florida Chapters of JDRF. They’ve been very helpful in educating our staff and making it more meaningful to them by introducing us to a JDRF family and our own Youth Ambassador, Daniel Aponte whom we have kept up with since we were first introduced to him 5 years ago.”
Please consider making a donation to JDRF this month to help turn Type One into Type None.
https://www.jdrf.org/greaternyc/
#jdrf #T1D #Type1