JDRF Game2Give Leaders & Founders to be Honored at 2023 Hope Gala
Each year at the Hope Gala, JDRF presents the Impact Award to individuals or organizations who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to our mission of improving lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its complications. This year’s honorees, Breakthrough T1D Play Leaders & Founders, were selected for their extraordinary commitment to JDRF and the well-being of our community.
Meet Dennis: A Hot Sauce Superhero Gaming for a Cause
Twitch streamer DennisLA1219 is not afraid to suffer a little when it’s for a good cause. Every time he does a Breakthrough T1D Play charity stream, out comes the hot sauce. He also does a mean Morgan Freeman impression. And sometimes, he combines the two.
Video Game Tycoon Turns Nostalgia into an Enterprise
Limited Run Games co-founder Josh Fairhurst was born with an entrepreneurial spirit. “We had orange and lemon trees in our backyard and when I was five years old, I would gather the lemons and oranges and sell them door-to-door to my neighbors for 25 cents,” Josh recalled. His type 1 diabetes (T1D) diagnosis at age 15 didn’t deter his drive. He was using an insulin pump by age 16 and has been able to keep his T1D well-controlled. The only exception? Nerves before important business meetings or presentations tend to cause his blood sugar to drop.
Livestreaming for a Cure
The name Jambo might not be familiar to you, but to more than 22,000 Twitch users and 38,000 Twitter followers, she’s a gaming influencer. Streaming started as a hobby for Jambo back in 2017, but it quickly developed into a full-fledged career. She’s fueled by two things: “Pizza and a desire to help leave the world a better place.” Jambo was aware of Breakthrough T1D after her type 1 diabetes (T1D) diagnosis in her early 20s, but it wasn’t until learning about the Breakthrough T1D Play initiative that she became directly involved with the organization. “It’s an absolute honor to work directly alongside so many incredible folks who want to help make the world a bit easier for those who deal with T1D,” she said.
An Enemy You Can Beat: T1D in Video Games
So far, 2022 has been an amazing year for type 1 diabetes (T1D) representation in pop culture. First, two characters wearing diabetes equipment appeared in the Pixar movie Turning Red. Then, players of Animal Crossing™: New Horizons got to visit Omnipod Bay, a diabetes-themed island created by Insulet with help from Breakthrough T1D.
JDRF is in Animal Crossing™ New Horizons!
JDRF Game2Give is a program that brings together the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community and the video game community. When Insulet, the makers of Omnipod®, asked us to team up on bringing diabetes representation to Animal Crossing™, we couldn’t say no!
T1D streamers blast through $50K goal during Game Over, T1D fundraiser
JDRF Game2Give is an international program that explores philanthropic opportunities within the multibillion dollar video game industry. One of these opportunities is livestream fundraising—a modern spin on the all-day telethons that used to air on TV. Instead of celebrities performing and volunteers taking donations over the phone, the performances happen on streaming platforms like Twitch and donations are made online.