Aucklander Penny Valentine, 12, is helping to raise funds for Cure Kids, in a bid to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes. Photo / Dean Purcell
Aucklander Penny Valentine, 12, is helping to raise funds for Cure Kids, in a bid to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes. Photo / Dean Purcell
Birthday parties are always fun, especially when there are loads of presents. But for one girl, there was nothing she wanted more this year than to help others.
Penny Valentine of Auckland celebrated her 12th birthday with family and friends last week.
She decided this year's party would be different, with invited guests asked not to bring gifts but to donate towards a cause that is very dear to her - trying to find a cure for diabetes.
The youngster has been living with Type 1 diabetes since she was diagnosed at 22 months old.
"I can't remember not having diabetes,'' she says.
Type 1 diabetes, usually diagnosed in childhood, is an auto-immune condition that results in the body not creating enough insulin to keep blood-sugar levels normal.
People with Type 1 have to monitor their blood-glucose levels very carefully; making sure to eat the right foods and exercising regularly. There is no cure.
Penny's mum, Sarah Valentine, said the family organised to throw a birthday party with a difference; asking guests to bring along a donation to go to children's charity Cure Kids, which has a focus on raising funds for high-impact medical research to help save, extend and improve the lives of children.
"We talked about the fact that every year, kids blow out the candles and they have a wish. And her top wish would be to get rid of Type 1 diabetes or find a cure for everyone," Valentine said.
"Rather than them spend $20 buying another pencil case or another thing that she doesn't need, we could actually get that money to do something really good."
Penny has set up a fundraising effort through the Givealittle website, calling on people to: "Help me help Cure Kids, please!''
Just over $1,000 had been raised by 3pm today.
"I know what it's like to live with a chronic condition that has no cure and it's just not fair. I never get a break from it - not on my birthday, not on Christmas day. Never.
"But I'm hoping that one day they find a cure.''
Asked whether she had thought about what her life would be like without diabetes, she said: "Yeah. I sometimes think about it. I'd probably say that it is annoying.''
She hoped to raise as much money as possible for Cure Kids and that others used it as motivation to want to do the same.
