How an Eagle Scout Project Supported Families Living with Type 1 Diabetes
T1D Advocate Sarah Hamilton • January 9, 2024
TL;DR
As part of her journey to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, Sarah Hathaway partnered with the Children’s Diabetes Foundation to create and distribute new-onset bags for families facing a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Through fundraising, community partnerships, volunteer leadership, and diabetes advocacy, she helped assemble 150 resource bags and raised funds to support the T1D community. Her project demonstrates how one young leader can make a meaningful difference for families navigating life with type 1 diabetes.
Turning an Eagle Scout Goal into a T1D Mission
On October 10th, 2022 I earned my Life rank in Scouts BSA and began focusing on what was once a faraway goal: Eagle Scout. I had some ideas for my project and I knew I wanted to do something that means a lot to me and benefits as many people as possible; this led me to think about the Children’s Diabetes Foundation. As a T1D myself and an
advocate for the organization, I know CDF has made an impact on others just like me so I was hoping I could come up with a plan to help other families affected by T1D.
Partnering with the Children’s Diabetes Foundation
I reached out to the Community Engagement Manager, Sydney. I believe that she was really confused and might not have heard about Eagle Projects before so she asked all about what I was looking to do and we talked about different options for projects. I asked her about the newly diagnosed onset bags for people with T1D that I remembered receiving from CDF when I was diagnosed in 2021. This was last June and we were both volunteering at the T1D Strong soccer camp. As camp went on we talked a lot and I offered some more ideas and the plan started coming together.
Gathering Resources & Support from the Diabetes Community
I started to talk to diabetes-related companies to get additional informational materials to put in the bags. I got in contact with Dino from Omnipod and he was very helpful. He sent me a lot of informational packets, games, and even fake Omnipods for new patients to try before spending a lot of money on new technology. Unfortunately, other companies and organizations were not as responsive but there was already a lot of helpful stuff from CDF to go into the bags.
I also did a fundraiser before my Eagle Project workday. I set a goal to raise money to put a restaurant gift card in each new onset bag because I remember going to lunch together as a family when I was discharged from the hospital. I knew that families could use that gift card and not have to worry about where to go. As I was fundraising, I found out that the Scouts BSA district person that I was working with, Pat, was associated with KFC. Pat put me in contact with the Regional Manager of KFC and through this contact, KFC donated 100 gift cards for the bags.
Organizing & Leading the Eagle Scout Project Day
Finally, on November 11th, 2023, I was able to carry out my project. I had been planning this for months and I was both nervous and excited. Sydney was kind enough to be at the CDF office on a day that she does not normally work and was so supportive. We set up the office to pack the bags and then people started to show up to help. We were able to do the project and even though we were only going to make 100 bags, the group ended up filling about 150 bags in less than an hour! Sydney and I then did a community information talk to over 30 people about our experiences with T1D and answered a lot of questions. It was awesome to look out in the audience at my Scout friends, neighbors, teachers, and family.
Making a Lasting Difference for Families
Living with Type 1 Diabetes
Thanks to all of the generous donations I received I was able to make a $1,750 donation straight to CDF. Sydney keeps saying that she is really grateful for all that I have done but I think that I am more grateful for her helping me and encouraging me. I would also like to thank KFC for the gift cards and everyone that I have worked with at KFC. Thank you to Dino for working with me through Omnipod because I reached out to all the companies but he is the only one that followed through. Thank you to CDF for letting me do my Eagle Scout Project there and thank you to everyone who was at my project and helped in any way.
