Help Take the Cure for
Diabetes from a Petri Dish to
People Around the World
Bill Holtby | HEADing to 2022
2022 is the one hundredth anniversary of the first
injection of insulin by Canadian scientists, Dr. Frederick
Banting and Dr. Charles Best. Regrettably, there are currently
450 million people worldwide who rely on this medication to
manage diabetes.
In the fall of 2018, I became a founding member of
a small group of volunteers who have the ambitious
goal of raising $22 million by 2022 to fund Canadian
researchers in their quest to find a cure for diabetes.
We are hoping that “22” is the lucky number.
When the ARTA Board of Directors published the
award‐winning ARTA Wellness: The Diabetes Volume,
in autumn 2018, I thought, “What better partnership
could there be?”
Obviously, finding a cure for diabetes is a very
worthy cause. Outside of the difficult, challenging,
and sometimes devastating personal effects diabetes
has on individuals and families, there is a business
proposition justifying why ARTA would partner with
this initiative.
Close to twenty per cent of ARTA members make
diabetes-related claims (Source: ARTA, March 2019).
Even more startling is the fact that ARTA pays more
than $1.3 million annually on such claims and that
other government and public plans spend far greater
amounts to cover treatment for this illness. Added
to this are the thousands of dollars individuals pay
yearly out of their own pockets to manage this disease.
Wouldn’t it be great to strike this one off the list of
diseases plaguing the world?
Great West Newspapers recently printed:
“Diabetes could be a thing of the past if all goes
according to plan,” says Dr. James Shapiro who is
heading a team of researchers on a cure. Helping
him out is another team of people who are taking
their fundraising effort across the country. They
want a million people to dig not so deep for $22
each to donate to a project called HEADing to
2022…. The idea is simple: get one million people
to make a modest donation of $22 each, and raise
$22 million within the next two years. Doing so
would enable Canadian researchers to take the cure
from their labs to diabetics all around the world.
It involves stem cells developed from the diabetics
themselves, so there would be no risk of rejection, as
other islet cell transplants have been plagued with.
It’s a process that was originally developed in Japan
by Professor Shinya Yamanaka who received the
Nobel Prize for the work.
HEADing to 2022 is using Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and LinkedIn to get the message out.
There are no golf tournaments, galas, or silent
auctions. Social media is a low-to-no cost way to get
our message out. If the message is liked and shared by
enough people, reaching a million Canadians is not out
of the question. If 23,000 ARTA members gave $22,
we would be half a million dollars closer to our goal. If
members share it with their social media network, that
number grows exponentially. Pretty cool for a bunch of
retirees!
HEADing to 2022 is a committee of DRIFCan, a
registered Canadian charity with the sole mission of
raising funds for Canadian researchers to find a cure
for diabetes. Details on the project and a link to donate
can be found at headingto2022.com. If you know
a not-for-profit or corporate partner that might be
interested in joining our effort, send us an e-mail.
As a retired guy, ARTA member Bill Holtby
has many more “titles”: hubby, dad, grandpa,
neighbour, friend, caregiver, running partner,
former City Manager, advocate, proud Canadian,
and active volunteer. He adds, “Since I retired
I have had the good fortune of being part of
the ‘gig economy.’ Most of my gigs don’t pay
monetarily, but they sure pay big in
self-satisfaction.”
38 | arta.net