Ascensia Diabetes Care, a leading global diabetes care company and the maker of the CONTOUR® range of blood glucose monitoring systems, has once again decided to support the Spare A Rose campaign, organized by Life for a Child, for the fourth consecutive year. The Spare a Rose campaign encourages people to donate the $5 (approx £3.60)cost of each rose they would have given to someone on Valentine’s Day to Life for a Child.
Life for a Child believes that no child should die of diabetes and this campaign is critical to help it achieve this goal. The funds raised from the campaign enable the charity to partner with diabetes centres in countries such as Mauritania, Jamaica and India to provide critical supplies, including insulin and testing supplies, as well as much needed diabetes education. Every $5 equates to one month’s supply of insulin for a young person and the program currently supports over 22,000 young people in 43 countries.
Ascensia has committed to match their employees’ donations up to a maximum of one rose for every one of the company’s 1,700 employees. To date Ascensia and its employees have collectively donated over $40,000 (£29,000) to Spare A Rose, making it the largest corporate supporter for this campaign to date. This donation is equivalent to providing life-saving insulin supplies to almost 670 children for a year, who otherwise would have nowhere else to turn.
Rob Schumm, President of Ascensia Diabetes Care, explained: “While people around the world will be buying flowers and cards for their loved one this Valentine’s Day, many of our employees will be choosing instead to donate to the Spare A Rose campaign. This is testament to how many employees at Ascensia are passionate about making a difference to the lives of people living with diabetes, both professionally and personally. We are proud to have been an avid supporter of this worthwhile campaign, which not only raises funds for insulin and testing equipment, but importantly also helps to highlight the plight of many children with diabetes in countries, where they do not have access to these essential supplies. The work of Life for a Child is literally saving the lives of children around the world and I implore more people to donate, so that together we can make a difference.”
Dr. Graham Ogle, General Manager of Life for Child, explained the importance of companies providing support for Spare a Rose: “The tremendous efforts from employees at Ascensia has had a huge impact on our ability to save the lives of children with diabetes across the world. Many children in less resourced countries are walking a tightrope with their diabetes management and often do not have the basic supplies to keep them alive. Through the generous employee donations and company matching we have received from Ascensia, we are able to provide crucial supplies and education that enable more children to have access to the care they need for their diabetes.”
Donations to Spare a Rose can be made at https://lfacinternational.org/sparearose/
