Age: 9
Age at T1D diagnosis: 7

When John isn’t tearing up the ice as part of his travel hockey team, or surfing at the beach with his brother and cousins, he’s busy educating his friends, family and community about T1D. In addition to forming “Johnny’s T1D Goons” and becoming the top fundraising team at the Jersey City JDRF One Walk event the last two years, John wanted to do even more on his own. Feeling inspired by the success of his family’s JDRF One Walk team, he started “Johnny’s Dogs for a Cause”—a hot dog stand he runs over the 4th of July holiday to help teach his neighbors about T1D and raise funds for research. John hopes one day there is a cure for T1D, but until then he says, “I don’t let T1D stop me from doing the things I love to do.”

“NJ Boy With T1 Diabetes Heads to Children’s Congress,” New York4, July 9, 2019