(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - The Pennock Island Challenge has become an annual tradition that makes an important difference for children diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). The Open Water Swim brings participants from around the world who make the 8.2 mile (13.2 km) swim around Pennock Island, raising money that goes directly to research with an immediate impact on children and adults who are learning how to live with a lifelong disease. It is one of the World's Top 100 Open Water Swims and America's Top 100 Open Water Swims, and has been featured in Men’s Journal Magazine and Men’s Style, Travel, Fitness and Gear.

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This year’s challenge will take place Sunday, August 14th, 2016 in Ketchikan, Alaska. Registration is open and donations are being accepted by individuals as well as corporate sponsorships.

“I’m proud to sponsor this event because when they find answers and cures, it will matter to all of us. Our family has been touched by diabetes in numerous ways. From amputations, diet limitations, and yes, even death, it's a tough one to deal with. We have the power to stop this disease in its tracks. Part of that power is each of us working on being a healthier self. The other part is stepping in to help make the research happen.” said Renee Schofield of TSS Inc.

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is a life-threatening autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin. It strikes both children and adults suddenly and changes life as they know it forever. It cannot be prevented and there is no cure. The Pennock Island Challenge raises awareness about the daily challenges of life with T1D, which involves a 24/7, unrelenting cycle of blood sugar testing and insulin injections to manage the disease.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is the only global organization with a strategic research plan to fight Type 1 Diabetes. Every dollar JDRF is able to direct toward research comes from donors.

The Pennock Island Challenge is on a current-assisted course, largely sheltered from large surf. Swimmers can enter as solo or as members of a relay. The swim was started by Willie and Kathy Schultz. Willie was the first solo swimmer for this event. In 2014 Mio and Mishele Rhein took over the organization of the swim partnering with JDRF, an organization they had been involved with since 2008, two years after the diagnosis of their son.

Mio Rhein, event organizer, says, “So much progress has been made by JDRF that benefits kids with T1D, that very next dollar could be the one that creates the cure and the Pennock Challenge will allow our community to say we had a part in that.”

For more information, to donate or to register for the challenge, contact Mio or Mishele Rhein at picketchikan@gmail.com or (970) 617-9638.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Pennock Island Challenge's Event Organizers
E-Mail picketchikan@gmail.com

 

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