Community Corner

Company Walks For Diabetes Research and For One of Their Own

Optimal Networks employees rally around colleague's son.

Seven Optimal Networks employees will walk in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk for the Cure on April 21 in Baltimore as part of “Wild Will’s Crew."

The team will walk to support Will Hodge, the 6-year-old son of Optimal’s staff accountant, Joe Hodge and his wife Amy. Will was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in January.

The team has raised almost $6,000 to date for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

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“I go to work every morning and see Optimal’s values on the wall [Tell the Truth. Do the Right Thing. Everyone Benefits.], but the outpouring of support for my son and others like him has reinforced the type of company Optimal is,” Hodge said in a news release. “My co-workers not only have my back at work, but they have my back outside the office as well; they are my friends.”

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which beta cells that produce insulin in the islet tissue of the pancreas are destroyed. The lack of insulin causes the blood sugar level to rise past normal rates, forcing the body to use fat and muscle for energy. It can also release of ketones (fatty acids),  causing a life-threatening chemical imbalance in the body.

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Will checks his blood sugar six to eight times per day and receives insulin injections four times per day.

“My colleagues inspire me every day,” said Heinan Landa, Optimal’s CEO, “but the way in which they have rallied around Joe, his wife Amy, and their son Will as they faced this challenge has been unbelievable.”

The Hodge family plans to continue fundraising for and volunteering with the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation after the walk.

Click here to learn more about or contribute to “Wild Will’s Crew."


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