By Kai-Lou Yue and Madhu Kaushik
Business Manager and Staff Writer
Everyone who has planned a fundraiser knows how much effort and planning goes into it; many are young adults or older when they begin to put together such an event. However, two WA students started participating in a fundraiser of their own creation at a young age.
For the past ten years, brothers Tim, a senior, and Brian Curran, a freshman, have participated in Skate for a Cure, an event first started by Brian and his parents after he was diagnosed in 2004 to raise money to find a cure for diabetes.
Brian was five years old when he was diagnosed with diabetes. Three years after Brian, when Tim was twelve, he was also diagnosed.
“The reason behind the fundraiser was to do something positive by helping to find a cure instead of letting the disease change our lifestyle,” said Brian.
The event consists of the brothers each skating 100 laps around a hockey rink. Family, friends, and even a few local businesses donated money to their cause, and the proceeds were then given to the Joslin Diabetes Center.
“My brother and I would skate the laps then collect the money people donated to our organization. From there we would thank the donators and then gather the money and move it towards finding a cure or advancements in technologies that would make our lives easier,” said Tim.
In 2004, during the first Skate for a Cure, Brian raised almost $8,000 for the diabetes center. Now, over the course of ten years, the fundraiser has raised over $100,000 in total.
Although they have raised a large sum of money, Tim mentioned that planning the event was not easy.
“[The hardest part of planning was] to find people interested in our event and make sure everyone knew all the information needed to donate,” he said.
Word of the event also needed to be spread around so people knew to donate.
“We reached out to friends and family, and each year [the event] grew with more supporters and the more money we raised, the more people recognized us,” he added.
In addition to Skate for a Cure, the two brothers are planning to start another fundraiser. This one will involve license plates.
“We are looking to get a Massachusetts state license plate approved so when me and Brian move on to college and further, we will still have the ability to find a cure,” said Tim.
For both Tim and Brian, fundraising for a cure for diabetes is rewarding and something they will continue to do, even with the hard work it involves.
“When I go to Joslin Diabetes Center and see the advancements and the happy kids whose lives are now easier, that’s what it’s all about. To know that we are a part of the reason that a cure is coming closer is extremely important to us,” said Tim.
