A little eye candy for your Friday: Brazilian Supermodel Izabel Goulart.
No, she doesn’t have diabetes. But she has a sibling who does. Her 7-year old brother was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes five years ago.
The Victoria’s Secret Angel/Armani Exchange style nymph apparently works with hospitals in her native Brazil to raise money to provide free insulin for diabetic children in need. Also, I don’t know how many of you caught the fact that she’s been raising money for the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami, FL, of late.
Back in May, she brought in $10,000 for the DRI in just two hours during an appearance at the SoHo A/X store. Wow, that’s some star power!
“I am here with all my love to raise money for the Diabetes Research Institute… I am 100 percent positive that one day they’ll find the cure,” she told the press.
If that’s what she’s after, then the DRI is a good choice. Note Scientific Director Dr. Camilo Ricordi’s quote on the front page of their website: “We will cure diabetes. This is not a prediction; it’s a promise.”
And what could go wrong when a sexy celebrity teams up with a high-powered researcher like that? At least it makes me feel giddy and full of hope. Nice.
The Institute is also “looking at ways we could involve Izabel in more fund-raising going forward.” Any ideas how they could employ her appeal to raise awareness and donations, Guys? Keep it clean now!
(Longish story, but I do have a point.)
I worked as a diabetes advocate for many years in Massachusetts. For about 4 years a group of us organized a Diabetes Day on the Hill, where we got a group of families together to try and persuade the Massachusetts house to pass legislation to cover diabetes supplies. For all of the years except the last one I was involved in, the turnout by politicians was paltry. We managed to do a little education and awareness raising, but the bill wasn’t going anywhere.
In the last year, we managed to get Nicole Johnson (former Miss World) to turn up. The effect was amazing. All of the representatives came out of their offices to say hello and have their pictures taken with Nicole. The bill passed within 6 months.
Sometimes things get done when famous/beautiful people are involved. For the rest of us, it’s just a lot of extra work.