Fighting Juvenile Diabetes With a Super Bowl Champ — and Powerhouse Dallas Women: This is No Ordinary Country Club Lunch

I was so happy to be included at the table that Nancy Gopez hosted at the sixth annual Fund A Cure Luncheon benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Those who are fortunate to know the generous Nancy often refer to her as the Bionic Go-Go as she is always spotted at charity events and has the energy of the famous battery bunny.

I hadn’t been to Brook Hollow Golf Club in eons and it’s always a treat visiting that bastion of old-guard Dallas. The food is usually exceptionally good (not the standard fare country club WASP staples) and I particularly loved my squash soup that began my meal. The luncheon helps fund much needed research to treat, prevent and cure type 1 diabetes.

JDRF currently funds millions of dollars in type 1 diabetes research locally, as well as nationally and around the world. Proceeds from the luncheon will be directed towards this research.

I’m not much of a sports guy. I’m continually teased at the PaperCity offices for suggesting a seventh-inning stretch to a Dallas Cowboys game. My balls never seem to be in the right field.

With that in mind, I wasn’t quite sure of Isaiah Stanback‘s claim to fame. I was quickly schooled by some of my more sports-minded tablemates that he was a former Super Bowl champion (with the New York Giants). Stanback and his wife Natalie were the honored guests at this year’s luncheon.

Their oldest daughter, Nadia, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in April 2015 at the age of three. It was at that time that Isaiah and Natalie had to develop a game plan to make sure their daughter had the best opportunity to thrive with T1D. Having grown up with family members with T1D, Natalie had firsthand knowledge as to how to manage this cumbersome disease.

Most importantly, they wanted to enable her to grow with confidence. The Stanbacks shared the highs and lows of battling this disease and how they continue to fight daily for their daughter.

This year’s featured speaker was Will H. Cross, American mountain climber, and the first in the T1D community to summit Mount Everest. Cross has lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 40 years and manages his diabetes in the most extreme conditions. While facing challenges such as irregular meals, extreme temperatures, unusual sleep patterns, physical exertion, frostbite and dehydration, Cross had to learn to balance these hardships while staying healthy and taking in enough insulin.

All of my tablemates seemed to agree, after hearing of his arduous trek, that we are not planning to climb any summits in the near future.

I chatted up dear Nancy as we waited in the valet line for our cars. She shared, “I was amazed to hear that when Will did his first climb on Mount Everest, he had to guess about his medication in less than ideal conditions. At that time, there wasn’t an easy way to measure his glucose levels and carrying insulin was cumbersome. However, when he did the climb again years later, there had been many technological advances that allowed him to monitor his levels more easily and administer insulin.

“I’m so impressed with the research the JDRF does, and my hope is that in a few more years, there will be a cure for Type 1 Diabetes!”

Beyond those inspiring speakers another highlight of my afternoon was walking out with the gorgeous orchid that was the centerpiece of our table. Maggie Kipp is always looking out for my desk at PaperCity and purchased the dramatic flower (as a donation to JDRF) to take back to the office with me.

Inspiring stories, a tasty lunch and the company of amazing women make for a great day.