Lavinia camps for diabetes

By Kara Irving
LAVINIA Martin was one step closer to her dream trip to Canberra last Friday, when the Cardinia Diabetes Awareness Group handed over a $400 cheque to send her to a diabetes awareness camp.
The Upper Beaconsfield eight-year-old, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes, will travel to Canberra at the end of this month to join 99 other Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Youth Ambassadors to attend the ‘Kids in the House’ camp.
The camp provides a friendly environment to teach children more about diabetes and how they can better manage the illness.
It also provides children with the opportunity to meet people their own age who are dealing with similar circumstances.
An extra $200 dollars was presented to Lavinia’s mother Joanne by the groups’ secretary Marilyn Sarbach.
It will help pay for an insulin pump to automatically measure blood levels and feed Lavinia’s body insulin.
Last month the Cardinia Diabetes Awareness Group learnt of Lavinia’s situation after reading a feature in the Gazette and decided to raise money to fund the trip.
Diabetes Awareness Group member Bev Hind described the donation as wonderful.
“We like to help children who find it hard, if not harder, to come to terms with their condition,” she said.
Every second Wednesday the Cardinia Diabetes Awareness Group holds a meeting at the Pakenham United Church that provides a similar service to the Kids in the House.
For further information about the meetings phone 5940 1890.