YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Every meal requires Jordyn White to think ahead. She looks at what she is eating, decides how much insulin she needs and considers whether exercise later might cause her blood sugar to drop.
White, the office and marketing manager at Advanced Technology Partners, has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 10. On Oct. 3, she will host Tunes for T1D at Penguin City Brewing Co. to raise money for research and bring together people who understand those daily decisions.
“I’m hoping to bring people together to kind of learn more about what type 1 is, realize how many people in this community it impacts, listen to some live music,” White said.
The fundraiser will run from 5-9 p.m. at 460 E. Federal St. Local bands Hard Knocks, Skyrail and Sonic Age will perform. The evening will also include raffle baskets and a 50/50 drawing. An ATP employee named Steve plays in Sonic Age, White said.
“He’s got the long hair. He gets the fan out and lets the hair blow out behind him,” she said, laughing.
The cause is personal for White and for Austintown-based ATP, the event’s presenting sponsor. White’s mother, Michelle, and brother, Justin, also live with type 1 diabetes. Michelle White is ATP’s co-owner and president, and Justin White is its co-owner and CEO.
Proceeds will benefit Breakthrough T1D. Jamie Bell, director of its Northern Ohio chapter, said the organization funds research to improve life with type 1 diabetes and find cures. Bell said about 1.4 million Americans, including more than 57,000 Ohioans, live with the disease.
Bell understands its demands as a parent. Doctors diagnosed Bell’s daughter, now 14, with type 1 diabetes when she was 4. Bell recalled watching two nurses check the insulin dose before giving it to her daughter in the hospital. Two days later, she and her husband had to take on that responsibility at home.
“Here you go – good luck,” Bell said, recalling how it felt to leave the hospital after the diagnosis.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. People with the disease must monitor their blood sugar and take insulin to manage it. Bell said food is only one factor: Exercise, stress, sleep, hormones and temperature can also affect blood sugar levels.
“It really, truly can be just a roller coaster to try to maintain and stay in range,” Bell said. “And then the mental battle, because there’s so many decisions and so much monitoring that these kids and these patients go through just to maintain themselves throughout the day. It’s hard to compare it to anything else.”
Breakthrough T1D also provides care kits for children, teens and adults with a diagnosis. Bell said volunteer outreach ambassadors connect with families to answer questions and offer support.
Both Bell and White want people to understand that eating too much sugar or any other behavior does not cause type 1 diabetes.
“There was nothing that I could have done to prevent it,” White said of her diagnosis.
As she has promoted the fundraiser, White said people have reached out to tell her they live with type 1 diabetes or have a child, relative or friend who does. Those conversations have reinforced her hope that the event will give local families a chance to meet one another.
Tickets cost $10 per person and can be purchased at the door with cash or Venmo. Presale tickets are available through TunesForT1D.com by making a $10 donation per ticket to the linked Breakthrough T1D page and including “Tunes for T1D Tickets” in the donation message.
White said she dreamed of organizing an event like this when she was a teenager. Now, with the fundraiser approaching, she has already seen support for the cause.
“The fact that we already have thousands of dollars going toward this cause, and the fact that we’re going to be able to raise even more is really, really special,” she said.
Pictured at top: Michelle, Jordyn and Justin White are helping bring Tunes for T1D to Penguin City Brewing Co. on Oct. 3. All three live with type 1 diabetes. Michelle and Justin are co-owners of Advanced Technology Partners, the event’s presenting sponsor, where Jordyn serves as office and marketing manager.