Our partners in the Southeast recently took part in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Fundraising Drive in Atlanta. The walk this year took place at Centennial Olympic Park.
Reports from Atlanta say it was a little chilly when our Dudes and Dudettes showed up to register, but by the time they took off on the three-mile walk the sun was shining and “Grant’s Gang” was walking stride for stride with 8,000 others trying to find a cure for Diabetes.
“Grant’s Gang” may ring a bell for many throughout the McCarthy family. Grant is the eight-year old son of Jim Eaton. Jim and his family recently moved from St. Louis to Atlanta as Jim took on the role of vice president of business development in Atlanta.
“Grant was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes when he was two-years old,” says Jim Eaton. “Type I is an insulin dependent diabetic as a result of a malfunction of their pancreas. Finding a cure for Type I Diabetes is the main focus of JDRF.”
What many people probably don’t realize is that treatment for this type of disease involves insulin shots…lots of insulin shots.
“We did the math recently,” Jim adds. “In Grant’s short life he has gotten ’stuck’ about 17,000 times! He gets four injections a day and checks his blood sugar four or five times a day.”
Jim and his wife became involved in JDRF after Grant was diagnosed. McCarthy has been a big supporter of the cause for many years.
“It always amazes me to see how generous our people are,” adds Eaton. “It is neat to see how so many of us donate and give of our own free will to causes like this. Thank you to everyone for your generosity. By the way, Grant did think the walk in Atlanta was ‘the coolest!’”
The donations from McCarthy Team totaled $6,508. This will hopefully go a long way to helping find a cure very soon. Thank you to everyone involved for helping in this worthy effort.
About McCarthy Heart Hats
The McCarthy “Heart Hats” community involvement program is dedicated to encouraging, supporting and recognizing McCarthy employees’ volunteer efforts in a variety of causes to ensure real needs are being met in communities where employees work, live and play. McCarthy employees are as passionate about building better communities as they are about construction. In addition to recognizing outstanding employee volunteers and providing a company-wide paid volunteer day, McCarthy “Heart Hats” donates countless hours of in-kind services and monetary contributions to improve communities each year.
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.
