Local Kids Plan to 'Beat the Bridge' to Help Beat Diabetes

Beat the Bridge is this weekend in Seattle. The event is a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which is the leading organization funding research for people with type 1 diabetes.

At least two active teams in Sammamish will be walking, "Team Nater" and “team Cass and Zack.” Team Nater has 38 members participating in the events on Sunday and has raised more that $14,500 so far this year and "Team Cass and Zack" has raised nearly $9,000 and has 58 members.

Nate, Cass and Zack are all all elementary/middle school-aged and have type 1 diabetes. Team Cass and Zack have a long history with Beat the Bridge. Their mother, Julie Spencer, is on the board of the local JDRF and organizes a support group for moms of T1D kids.

The Nordstrom Beat the Bridge to Beat Diabetes is the largest nongovernmental funder of research to cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes (T1D).  The event consists of an 8k Run and Wheelchair Race, 4-Mile Walk, 1-Mile Fun Run, and Diaper Derby for toddlers. The event is called Beat the Bridge because the University Bridge is raised during the race and the goal is to BEAT the raising of the bridge. For those who don't beat the bridge, there is a band and prizes for those who get "caught."

After a few minutes, the bridge goes back down, allowing everyone to finish.  Since the first Beat the Bridge race in 1983, Nordstrom has partnered with JDRF to conquer T1D. Beat the Bridge is part of The Walk to Cure Diabetes, an annual walkathon held in more than 200 locations in 13 countries to benefit JDRF. The Walk to Cure Diabetes raised over $85 million last year.

You can get all the event details here.

Nate’s Mom, Heidi Schmedding, says that though Team Nate is a family team, most donations to the team are posted to Nate’s page so he gets credit for them and shows up on the “leader board” as one of the top individual fundraisers. Last year, Team Nate was the #2 family team and Nate ended up as the #3 individual for fundraising. Because of that effort, the JDRF asked him to throw out the first pitch at Diabetes Awareness Night at a Mariner’s game. His younger brother, Max,  actually got to be the “Play Ball” kid that night too.

Nate wrote a letter on his individual page and has been writing some of the thank you notes the family sends to donors, but Mom does a lot of the fundraising, sending emails and information to friends, family, and colleagues for donations.

“I figure that diabetes steals enough of Nate’s time and attention so he should focus what’s left on being a kid (school, baseball) and let me focus on the fundraising. His part of fundraising has been just being a great, positive kid that people want to support,” Heidi Schmedding said.

Three years ago, when Nate was first diagnosed (August 2009) the family spent three nights at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, she said. On the third night, the family happened to have Mariners tickets so I suggested that my husband take my younger son, Max, to the game since Max had been ignored a bit over the previous few days (as you can imagine). When they got to Safeco, they learned that it was Diabetes Awareness Night.

Schmedding says she and the family figures, the more awareness, the more support, the sooner the cure, so they don’t hide the fact that Nate has diabetes.

To help these cool local families Beat the Bridge with a donation, go to their fundraising pages: Team Nate  and Team Cass and Zack