Emily Dunham is 7 years old. She’s suffered from Type I juvenile diabetes since she was 4. Friday, her community comes together to raise money for a specialist dog that will help in managing her disease.
Diabetic alert dogs are among a growing number of service dogs that are being used to assist in care of diabetics who need 24-hour care, and can sometimes detect a dangerous drop in blood sugar that monitoring technology is slower to pick up on.
According to an ABC News story in June, “A diabetic’s metabolism changes before a seizure induced by low blood sugar. This change smells subtly like ketosis, which is like nail polish remover. Dogs have extraordinary sensory abilities, and are able to smell more accurately than humans. The diabetic alert dogs are trained to act when the odor occurs, barking in alarm or licking its owner.”
Emily needs constant care from her parents, Kim and Sam, who live in the Southwood community of Lenoir County. She has an insulin pump to help regulate her blood sugar, but still needs to be tested on a regular basis throughout the day.
In October, a group of residents organized and decided to work to raise the $25,000 they estimate is needed to purchase a diabetic alert dog for the Dunhams.
Southwood Memorial Christian Church is sponsoring the effort.
“The benefit committee is just a committee of community people — from different churches throughout the community,” benefit organizer Wendy Robinson said. “We like for a church to be a representative, so our church — the one her parents are a member of — decided to take it on, and then we went from there.”
The benefit committee wants to be your choice for lunch Friday. Volunteers are making barbecue pork and chicken meals that are available to pre-order for $7, and will be delivered to pick-up locations around the area.
For orders of 10 or more, volunteers will deliver to your location.
“The response is good, it’s really good,” Robinson said. “We’ve had lots of people call, lots of people that are calling to ask about information about where to give donations, where to send the sign-up forms and where the locations are going to be.”
Most volunteers will set up at the pick-up sites between 11-11:30 a.m. For more information, including how to place an order, contact Robinson no later than today at 252-559-0852.
Multiple attempts to reach Kim and Sam Dunham for this report were unsuccessful.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at WolfeReports.
Breakout Box
Pick-up locations for meals to support the Emily Dunham benefit:
- Southwood Memorial Christian Church
- Deep Run Volunteer Fire Department
- Fairfield Recreation Department
- Fuel Warehouse (Skinner’s Bypass)
- Kinston-Lenoir CountyVisitorsCenter
- Piggly Wiggly (JacksonHeights)
- Piggly Wiggly (the Plaza)
- Piggly Wiggly (old store parking lot, La Grange)
- Pink Hill Volunteer Fire Department
- Wheat SwampChristian Church Woodmen Community Center