Ben Vereen

The 18th annual Jim Cook Day of Hope for Diabetes^® will take place Saturday, March 2 at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences, Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. This year’s Day of Hope^® theme is “Living with Diabetes in a Positive Way.”

This free event is being presented by the Desert Diabetes Club as an educational tool to help persons with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and their families better understand and manage the disease. There will be keynote speakers and 25 educational sessions by physicians, researchers, nutritionists and other experts covering diabetes treatment, pre-diabetes, new findings, diet, exercise, and long-term implications. Spanish-language programs will be offered.

Attendees will also be able to participate in an “Ask the Doctor” session where they can query physicians about their particular areas of concern.

This year’s celebrity keynote speaker is Tony Award- and Emmy Award-winning actor, dancer and singer, Ben Vereen. The animated song-and-dance man won a Tony award for his role in the Broadway musical Pippin; was memorable as Chicken George in the TV miniseries Roots; and nabbed an Emmy for the TV special Ben Vereen…His Roots. As a person living with Type 2 diabetes, Vereen is working to bring much-needed attention to the growing diabetes epidemic and is “taking a stand” as a diabetes advocate and role model.

This year’s medical keynote speaker is Jeremy Pettus, M.D., UCSD Department of Endocrinology, Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) Co-Director, and research scientist at the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Pettus was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 15, and since that time has dedicated his career toward educating and treating patients living with the disease. With the staff from TCOYD, Dr. Pettus has given talks across the country to both patients and health care providers. His messages focus on empowering patients to take control of their disease, and in doing so, live happy and healthy lives.

This year’s medical guest speaker from San Diego will be William H. Polonsky, PhD, CDE, and CEO and Founder of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, the world’s first organization wholly dedicated to studying and addressing the unmet psychological needs of people with diabetes. His topic will be The Emotional Side of Diabetes.

Platinum Sponsor of Day of Hope^® is the City of Rancho Mirage and this year’s event honors Mayors Pro Tem Gordon Moller and Ron Meepos, both of whom lost their lives within the past two years due to complications of diabetes.

The event will also feature 45 companies presenting education, products and information. Testing will be offered for glucose levels, eye pressure, stroke risk assessment, foot circulation, blood pressure and others.

Don’t miss this FREE event! More than 1,000 diabetics and their family members are expected to attend to learn the latest information on controlling the disease. For more information visit emc.org/ddc or call 760.773.1578.