Team Diabetes… successful in Rome!
Rome, Italy
Congratulations(!) to our longstanding client The North West Company (NWC) on the successful run by their Team Diabetes group last week—73 of 77 runners from NWC completed the 2011 Maratona di Roma, raising over $500,000 in donations to fight the debilitating disease (a serious condition that affects more than 3 million Canadians, with those of Aboriginal descent being three to five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes).
Another client of ours, MKO Grand Chief David Harper (of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc., the non-profit, political advocacy organization that represents 30 First Nation communities in Manitoba’s North) ran the Rome Marathon alongside the NWC team. Chief Harper later had the opportunity to meet Pope Benedict at St. Peter’s Square, where he raised the issue of the urgent need for clean, running water in northern First Nations. The Pope indicated that there was indeed a need for greater advocacy on this issue, and promised to issue an urgent call for same. Chief Harper also extended an invitation to the Pope to visit Manitoba’s northern First Nation communities when the Pope makes his first visit to Canada.
Images: Edward Kennedy, President and CEO of NWC, after the finish; David Lui, NWC’s Marketing Director (who ran for his diabetic dad, Andrew Lui); Grand Chief David Harper with Pope Benedict (photo from the Winnipeg Free Press).
