Every year they give the gift of life – and of hope.
This year, as in years past, they gave hundreds of thousands of dollars — $160,000 to be exact –- for research to help end Juvenile Diabetes.
On Saturday, April 2, Joe Mure, family, friends, and those who help each year with “The Little North Pole” presented checks to numerous charities dedicated to eliminating the disease, which affects one in every 400 to 500 people in the general population.
“Our goal is $100,000,” said Mure, Treasurer of the New York Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). “We did a great job.”
Mure – whose house at 144-03 Neponsit Avenue in Neponsit Beach is the site of “The Little North Pole” – told The Courier that this year, $120,000 went to the JDRF; $12,500 went to Peninsula Hospital; $12,500 to the Naomi Berrie Diabetic Center at Columbia University; and $15,000 to State University of New York (SUNY), which he said is connected to Maimonides Medical Center, doing research on genetics.
“The research is being done,” said Mure, who thanked the hundreds of volunteers, performers and all those who donate at the annual Christmas fundraising extravaganza. “It’s important for the kids who live each and every day with it to see that there are people who care.
“We couldn’t do what we’re doing without all the people who support the cause, give food, perform . . . they believe in something I believe in, and together we see we can get something accomplished.”
“We at JDRF could not be more grateful for the way our valued volunteer Joe Mure supports our important cause year-round and most especially at the holidays during the season-long ‘Little North Pole’ celebration,” said Maureen Fitzgerald, Executive Director, JDRF/NY. “We are so fortunate that Mr. Mure shares our commitment to the fight against type 1 diabetes, and for the way he galvanizes his entire community in the Rockaways and beyond.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: On Saturday, June 4, come out to help end Juvenile Diabetes at the Third Annual South Queens Juvenile Diabetes Walk-A-Thon to Cure Diabetes.
Organized by the International Society of Saints Cosma and Damiano, the walk will began in the schoolyard of the Ave Maria Catholic Academy and will raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
In the past two years, it has raised $150,000 each year for the cause.
“Our goal is to always raise money money,” said Joe De Candia, President of the Society, who has pledged his continued support of the cause. “We’ll be out here every year until a cure is found,” said De Candia.
