We at ACT1 are very proud of the ACT1 Advocacy Committee and the work they do with the Supply Exchange Program. Today’s blog is a collaberative effort on their part to ask for your help. After reading this, I hope you feel as moved as I have been to do something
We are in the midst of a silent crisis.
Whether it is from job loss, changing health benefits, or catastrophic health problems, people with diabetes across the United States no longer have coverage for their medical supplies. They are unable to check their blood sugar, take their insulin, or otherwise do the things they need to do to keep themselves alive.
For people with diabetes, who need to test their blood sugar 4 times a day– if not more– the test strips needed to check are especially problematic. Without insurance, that adds up to $5 a day. That’s $150 a month, or approximately $1,820 a year. That’s a staggering amount of money– for strips alone, let alone insulin, syringes, and other medications– even if you’re working. If you are unemployed, it’s impossible.
So thousands of diabetics are going without checking their blood sugar. They’re unable to effectively calculate their insulin or oral medication doses, which puts them at even greater risk for severe highs and lows. They’re driving blindfolded down a busy highway. Can you imagine how scary that is?
We at ACT1 receive a lot of requests for test strips, some of them desperate. In our supply exchange program, we provide people with the nonprescription supplies they need while connecting them to long-term and sustainable assistance externally. We want to help everyone who asks, so that nobody has to be in that position. So that they don’t have to wake up in the morning with only 2 test strips and try to predict when they will most need to test their blood sugar. So that they don’t have a low that sends them to the ER because they didn’t know that their blood sugar was falling. So that they don’t have to choose between eating the food they need and buying the medical supplies they need to survive.
We want to help everyone, but for that, we need YOUR help. The requests are pouring in, and our donations can’t keep up. ACT1 needs at least 1,500 test strips in order to meet our current need, along with 20-30 glucometers. These would serve the fifty-two people who are now on our waiting list, as well as their sisters, husbands, and parents who email us in a panic of their behalf.
Do you have extra test strips and/or non-prescription supplies you’d like to donate to our Supply Exchange Program? We’re asking you to look through your back-up supply of test strips and see if you have extras to donate. To finally get rid of those old strips you can’t use because you got a different meter. If you don’t have diabetes, we ask you to buy a vial in the drugstore to give to someone who can’t afford it. if you can’t make it to the store, then help us with the costs of shipping packages or ask us to buy the supplies for you by donating online here.
A lot of times we donate to charity without having real sense of where our money is going. If you donate to the ACT1 supply exchange, we can guarantee that your donations will help a diabetic stay healthy, safe, and alive!
You can contact donations@act1diabetes.org to find out how to donate your supplies and the contact supplies@act1diabetes.org with any questions about the program.
We appreciate your support and generosity!
Ladies I have a donation of test strips that I will try to get to you be the end of this week. I really am very proud of the work you do.
I’m trying to send an inquiry about some extra pump supplies I have available to donate but the email address ending in .org is not working. Can you contact me to make arrangements?
Thank you.
Hi MomOfDiabetic, were you able to get in touch with anyone about donating pump supplies? If not, email me directly at caroline [at] act1diabetes [.] org. Thanks!
Its articles like this that remind me how lucky I am to be a type 1 diabetic in the UK, without the NHS I would be stuck! Makes me feel like mainly over a load of stuff to you, but I guess what would be, umm, illegal!
good luck though and a great website