 into journey with you as we learn how to take your health back. We are coming to you live from my home office in Makiki and the studios of Think Tech Hawaii, which is located in downtown Honolulu. We are so grateful to the Think Tech Hawaii staff and facility for allowing us to bring to you different topics and subjects of interest. So let's get started before the year's over and wow it's already November. Did you know that November is Diabetes Awareness Month? And do you know that 11 years ago I was asked to sit on the board of directors for the American Diabetes Association of Hawaii and I said yes and I didn't have a clue about diabetes. So today we shall be discussing the state of diabetes in Hawaii and it doesn't look that great but after today's discussion, help is on its way. If you are recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, we can help you with food and nutrition, stress and emotions, physical activity, preventing diabetes complications and staying on track. That's important. Today I would like to introduce to you two very dynamic, hard-working and relentless women that just want the best lives for all of you and they can address all of these situations. We have Lorraine Leslie, who is the executive director of American Diabetes Association, and we have Danielle Tuata, who is the director of development. Welcome ladies. Aloha. Aloha Wendy. Hello. Aloha. So let's get started ladies. Everyone thinks that Hawaii is so beautiful that everyone must be outdoors, enjoying the beaches, the hiking trails, and the parks. Yet, Hawaii leads with the highest percentage of diabetes in the world. Lorraine, can you share with us some stats with us? Yes, thank you Wendy. Actually, diabetes in Hawaii, we lead the highest percentage in the country as well as some parts of the world. Did you know that 410 adults here in Hawaii have pre-diabetes? And think about that number, 410,000 with pre-diabetes. That means you're walking around and don't even know you have it. It's 85% of Americans with pre-diabetes don't know they have it, 85%. That's a huge number. They also, the annual healthcare cost for someone diagnosed with diabetes is two times higher and at a cost of $1.1 billion. Think about that number again. $1.5 billion just to care for folks with diabetes. Our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all folks with diabetes. Wow, that's a big job, Lorraine. I got to give a shout out to you and Daniel because I understand the great number of diabetics here in Hawaii and I know that you too are the home office here in Hawaii and you too, as I said, you are relentless. You're out there just getting the word out, education, and all of the great things that you both do to address the situation on a very, very large part of our population here in Hawaii. And so, you know, I know you do it with many of your boards and your different sponsors and your courts in the community, but I also know that there's a simple risk test that everyone can take. So Lorraine, is it true that we have or the ADA has a simple 60-second risk test that they can take? 60 seconds, seven questions. Seven simple questions that you can go to our link and we can provide the link that's on the screen. I don't know if you can see that small link, but you just click on the link. You can go to our website too. And in 60 seconds, you'll know if you have pre-diabetes or diabetes. Your score goes personally back to you, your email. And so, with that result, we strongly suggest you take that results back to your care provider, your health care provider, and have a conversation. We have lots of tools for you to use as well, but really do it now. There's a little cue code up in the corner, but you just simply go on the link and, yeah, 60 seconds, seven questions, and you'll know if you are at risk for diabetes. You know that 60 seconds and the seven questions that you are going to be introduced to. So you understand when you take the test. These are what the markers that they're looking for. And so say you're in that category of high risk. So of course, like Lorraine said, call your physician, let her know or him know that you did this 60 second test and you have some concerns and they'll take it from there with other tests. But knowing what those seven questions are, already if they're asking you your weight, your age, all these things, age, we can't do anything about, but we can do other things with the other six questions. And so I think just being aware, first of all, Lorraine is most important. And I always stress with everyone that, to me, success is not just knowing that we have the test there, but the success to me is that we know it's there and we take advantage of it by taking the test. So we take action and then we get the results and then we take one more step if needed. And that is where success to Kirby, the numbers of diabetes comes. Is that correct, Lorraine? It is. In Wendy, when you do take the test and the email comes back to you, you'll also get resources, local resources from the zip code that you put in so that you can join a diabetes program or you can go to our diabetes website and learn about the food hub and all kinds of things, local education classes. And so you shouldn't be afraid to take the simple 60-second, 70-second test because it's an investment in you. Right. And then at the comfort of your own home, you're taking this, you're answering each question honestly, because it's all about you. You want to lie, you're going to get a false reading, but at least it'll give you some direction. And that's what you are all about over at the ADA office, that you're always wanting people to be aware of their options and what they can do if. If, okay. So you ladies are always hard at work developing educational seminars and events. And now we're on Zoom and we know that this Zoom will reach the right person and they had a question in their heart and it's going to reach them. And so then they're going to be able to have some more direction. And that's what you ladies are constantly doing is educating and giving us all the direction we need. So you have free programs for those living with diabetes. Can you just tell us about some of them, Lorraine? We do. We do indeed. And you can find them on our website at www.diabetes.org. And on it, you'll find living with type 2 diabetes program. And it's a, again, it's as simple. I would say the Rift Test takes 60 seconds. This probably takes 90 seconds to complete. There's, you know, your name, your email address, things like that. Once you're registered, you'll start getting a lot of free resources about diabetes that will include our Diabetes Food Hub, which we'll talk about that a little bit later, where, you know, we work with a lot of dietitians. And these are recipes that are full proof, safe for those with type 1 and type 2. Easy recipes that you can, you know, print and take to the market with you. They have a market, a grocery store list that you can, again, download and take that to the market with you. We have the Ask the Expert series, which we have nationally. And we also have local support groups. And then we also have the local diabetes education. And it is a little bit challenging doing it home-based and through Zoom. But we do reach out to the community and offer our diabetes resources. We want you to thrive, even though you may be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, you can still thrive. You can still live a very healthy and active productive life. Yes, and many do. I mean, as I said, I wasn't aware of diabetes until I became a board member. And then as I met more and more people, I'm like, oh, you too, you too. And not just the locals, but there are so many other football players, celebrities, and you, you guys, bring them to town. And, you know, so it could be anybody. They don't discern who gets it. It just discriminates. Diabetes does not discriminate exactly. Yeah. And so, you know, when I first came on, on the board, the American Diabetes had a camp for Kiki with type 1 diabetes. But I know that it was put on hold for many years. And that was a sad thing because now that I understand the child with diabetes, they have a special world around them. And they want to be around others so that they don't feel like, why me? Except, but when they go through the camp with us, they just know that it's just me. And this is who I am. And so with all your hard work, with all your team around you, your boards around you, I know that you got it all started up again. And you have the only overnight camp for Kiki with type 1 diabetes. This looks like a lot of fun for them because they're with their peers with diabetes type 1. And we know it takes a lot of volunteers and financial support to run these camps. And I know that because there was many meetings that you all have around this, looking for dollars, sponsors, volunteers to manage and continue this program for these Kiki. So how does this program receive support, Lorraine? This was, this is a photo of 2019 of the camp out at Camp Erdman. It is a four-night, five-day camp. It's certainly right when it says it takes many hands to put this together, pull this together, and a lot of sponsors. And we are so fortunate that we have sponsors like Queen the Queen's Health System. We have the Lions Club that come out, not only help us with financial donations, but also volunteer their time throughout. We're very lucky to get a lot of sponsors. We had over 62 kids participate last year. And you're certainly right when you say it is the only camp where kids can be themselves. And they're around other kids like them. It's not, you know, every family that has to get up every three or four hours to make sure that the blood sugar is, you know, the check of child blood sugar activity is making sure, you know, before they eat or do an activity, their heart pounds. It's very challenging, but it's very rewarding. Unfortunately for 2020, with COVID, we had to move the camp virtual. And what did that mean? It gave the Hawai'i kakis an opportunity to mingle with kids around the country. So it's actually, we took a lemon and made lemonade out of it. So we, these, the kakies of Hawai'i have 10 pounds for life. They were put in virtual cabins with kids all over the country. And we are looking to do that in Dan for 2021. We're also introducing a new program in Hawai'i called Project Power, which is a prevention program. And we've, you know, the thought behind it is why wait until you are diagnosed with diabetes older. The Project Power is with kids age seven to 13. And it's actually a program that you, it's family based. So you do it together as a family and you learn prevention of the importance of activity, healthy living, healthy eating, and you take that home and learn together as a family. So we're excited about, you know, about that. And we hope to bring the camp back in 2022. But 2021 it will remain virtual. Wow. You know, every time they, we had an opportunity at the ADA office that we wanted to produce PSA by one of the students. And they would pick like the top five kiki who had the best videos. But I would always say, you know, if I were in the running for this video, I would always want to make a video that said Mahalo to diabetes. And the reason I would say that is because Mahalo to diabetes because, because of me, my mom and dad are eating healthier. Because of me, my mom and dad and family are walking and holding hands while they're walking in the park. Because of me, my family is drinking more water because of me. And so that's what I would say. And so when I talk to these the children, yeah, that's what I said, don't look at it like why me to say because of me, I'm saving my family. And I'm giving them greater health and greater activity. And we never did this before. But since I got diagnosed, this is what we've been doing as a family. So thank you. Thank you. So it's awareness and an education. So because of that child, the family is now being more educated on what to do and what not to do. So there's a lot of, you know, good that we have to, like you said, you're going to take the make lemonade out of the lemons. You are spot on, Wendy, for sure, that it's an opportunity to bring families together. Yeah. And I've seen it, I've seen it. So it's like an amen to that. So I understand that even with COVID that you have monthly virtual support groups all the time and we're meeting as much as you can. And how do you coordinate the speakers and get the calendar distributed to those in need? So here's a photo when we used to all gather in person of our support group. And it really came from a need. Danielle and I were receiving calls from some of the folks with questions. They were lonely. They just wanted to have a conversation. And a light bulb sort of went off and thought, well, let's try this virtual. And so we formed a committee with some of our board members. And I have to say the first two were a little shaky. And then as it got better, we decided how about doing a survey and we sent out a survey and said, what would you like to hear? What topics do you, you know, concern you? And then we just started to fill in the speakers that way. And so I know Danielle's going to talk a little bit about our great speaker tomorrow, which I'm so excited. Yeah, and it's tomorrow already. Celebrity, Chef Sam Choy. You know, Sam is great. He's partnered with us before. He has diabetes himself. And he really loves to share his journey. And if anyone can pivot and do some food swaps, you know, it's Sam. And we talked about, you know, the camp and type one kids with type one and last year, Sam filmed with us a family with type one. And it really opened up Sam's eyes of, you know, the day to day of the life of parents with a child with type one diabetes. Wow. So, you know, in the past, we all knew about the American standard diet and the food pyramid. We all know that Hawaii is so special and we have different local kind foods. So that pyramid really didn't cut it so much or so well with us. So there is a new system in place. And I know that this is a plate that is very colorful and very localized. So what does it all mean and why translate to local kind foods? Come on, Danielle, you want to take that? Yes, sure. And you know, actually at all of the health fairs that we attend, this particular sheet is the first one to go. Yes, they love it because it's so easy to understand. And what I share with people is normally, you know, the local normal plate that they would order is perhaps, I don't know, let's say katsu, gravy all of the rice, max salad, and max salad. And then you add on the drinks, right? So for every individual and depending on your doctor or your nutritionist, should be around 2,200 calories intake per day per day. So one meal like that actually results in over 2,000 because our drinks that 2,000 calories. So our drinks nowadays is fairly large, right? The drink alone can result in a couple hundred calories for the intake. So we have to really be careful and watch what our intake is. So if you look at this place, like you mentioned, it was colorful or it is colorful and 50% of the plate is green. So a lot of people think, oh, okay, I can have like a little portion or I can have maybe one fourth. But for this here, calculation, the 50% is of vegetables. Of course, we have the greens and then the protein to go in as well with the plate to make it complete. Now, if you, we can email you this slide as well or this sheet, but on the other side of the sheet, the good thing about it, it's color coordinated. And it'll show you the milk and how much it will take for like at the end of the day to equal out to 2,200 calories, the protein. So it's a wonderful tool. Yes. In fact, when I saw it come out, I mean, I would always go to the tables and grab stacks of this because I would always have it in my folder. And if anything, the locals would resonate with this so well like, oh, is that what we're supposed to eat? Because they don't eat like boiled peas and corn and stuff. But if you put the other things in there, and then, you know, the local food, they can like, oh, so they feel more special that they can do this. And it's not a pyramid that they're eating off of because who eats off of a pyramid, right? So then they readjusted that plate for the local style. I'm sure even the mainlanders want to take a hold of it because it's appealing. You know, to every population, it's appealing. And it makes us want to be more proactive on what we consume and what we're putting into our mouths. So to shape or wherever develop that plate and taking it off the pyramid because no one does eat from a pyramid. But anyway, so as we were talking about Sam Choi, I know that we American Diabetes Association depends a lot from the support of different celebrities around town. And I know that Sam Choi is one of them. And so how did we get him to be involved, Danielle? Oh, how did we get him Lorraine? But it is tomorrow, everyone, before it's tomorrow at 9am. And we can send you the Zoom link to join the session. But Lorraine actually has a good relationship with Sam and actually no more. The sponsorship for his yes. But as I said earlier, and it's no secret, you know, Sam is was diagnosed with diabetes himself a few years ago. And you know, a lot of people thought, how did he lose all this weight? And it really once he was diagnosed, he really had a decision to make to continue on the current path and or, you know, or get healthy. And he chose to get healthy. And so, because once you're on insulin, if you don't really take, you know, control the situation, you know, amputation is rampant here in Hawaii. And you don't want to do that. So Sam shares his story and you should join us tomorrow. I can't tell his story. He tells it great. Yes. So that's the cliffhanger. You join us tomorrow. You can hear the whole story of to leg or not to leg, right? And so we want Sam with legs and going to home to home to continue to pull things out of people's ice boxes and cook the healthy way. And I just love that about his show. So now let's move on because we got a lot more to cover. So let's talk about the annual event that so many locals look forward to. I for one, for many, many years has looked out to step out walk and then it was tour the cure. And then now it's the step out walk again. So talk to us about why the step out walk. And what does it mean going virtual, yeah. So it is scheduled this year for Saturday, March 27. We do not have the website yet, but it will be opening up fairly soon. I'm going to stay within the next couple of weeks. Wendy will be able to send you the link. And it's almost the same because you can exercise and if we're not limiting it just to the walk, you can walk, run a ride on your own with your families, with your church members, with your coworkers, with your Rotarians at any time during the day or week leading up to the event or even after the event. So it's actually a better format where you don't have to necessarily walk at 2.3 miles at the park like we did. You make your own goals. And then you can when you join and register on the website, you can send, you can have your own page to send out social media through social media, fund raise, put your own story on your website, share your picture and email out to even in the mainland, outer islands, now we can add all of our different islands to join in the event, as well as someone in Nebraska or in Washington. And they can support you via social media virtually. So it's a great event. Wow. And I got to ask, I know it's a fundraising event, it still is, right? So we're bringing in dollars so we can continue to educate and have these programs to support the community. Are we still doing like, I got to ask the champions, are we still doing the champions? Okay, because that's my favorite and I want to talk on it. I know I didn't talk to you guys about it, but if we're doing the champions, okay, I have my medal. So I want to show it off because I tell you, even my daughter at 20 years old, she says, mom, we're champions, we'll do this. So what we did was with your help, Danielle, and with your help Lorraine, we went and we created the website, which is really easy. And then she just puts it on Facebook and then, hey, support me, I'm going to walk. If you're not walking, I'm walking for you. Just give me some money. And you know, when she raised $1,000 or more, she became a champion. And you know what, she got like a few of these medals every year she did it. And just for this, and she's a lot of her gold medals, that she would do this every year. And as she moved away, then mommy took it on, and that's what we want to do. And I remember all the champions that would come and step to the plate and raise that thousand plus dollars. And it was just a beautiful thing. I'm so pleased you mentioned that and going virtual. We've learned a lot this past, you know, few months about virtual. And we've got a lot of great surprises in store. So thank you for mentioning, you know, the champion level. Yeah, that's, that's, that's what it's all about. So not just, you know, come in and yeah, I mean, that's great that we raised some money, but let's raise some, but the best part is the medal, the honor, and it hangs on my wall. And I'm like so, so proud of it. So proud of it. So you rally your support, supporters and friends to bring awareness to this living with diabetes. And you know, with the numbers of diabetics here in Hawaii that every, if every diabetic just told two friends about the step out, okay, and they just invited two friends to join and sign up with them for them to go out and get other sponsors and awareness. That means just two, if everybody just brought two friends, that means all of these diabetics bringing two friends, that means the whole island would have been involved. And that's another woman, let's take lemonade that, you know, anyone, you know, anyone can participate. But now like if I, if I was, and I brought two friends now, I may hit these, but I may hit the other islands, I have friends in Germany and Brazil. And then these other two friends, they have friends all over the world too. So yes, the, it's exponential growth of numbers that one, if every one of the diabetics brought in two friends, right, if we look at those numbers, and it just grows from there and you know, we know more than two friends, right? Danielle, how many friends you know, right? And then real quick, Wendy, if I may add in, please, we are still looking for a chair for the event as well as sponsors. So I want to be able to give you my email address as well as telephone number. I'll give you my cell phone, 808. Wow. You go girl. And what the cell phone is for guys, if you understand the heart behind this association and you want to come and help and say, you know what, you are the CEO of a bank or a company and you say, you know what, I want to take responsibility for that. My son, my daughter has had their diabetes and you know what, it's time we step to the plate and make this company help them go virtual and raise the dollars, raise awareness that everyone needs to know about. And that's why I think this is so valuable doing what we're doing right now. Right? Yeah. So they're telling us one minute, I want to just share my email. Okay. Yes. D is in Danielle, T is in Tom, U, A, T, A. D to Wata at diabetes.org. Okay. Anyone is interested, please email me and I will send you information. All right. We have one more final picture. We got to put that up because we got to give the shout out to these people. Our volunteers. I mean, we do what we do without our volunteers. This is a photo taken, Wendy, I believe you're in the photo here. Yeah, leg in the back. Brooke Lee and Brandon Lee and Tony up, but we're all, a lot of our sponsors are in there, Queens and UHA, HMA, the list goes on and on. On and on. Every year they step to the plate, they step up to the plate. We had again, like she said, Brooke Lee, Tony Lee and Brandon Lee were our co-family chairs and they did a fabulous job and we're looking for that other fabulous leader that will take us to 2021. So ladies, the time has come to an end and we got to say mahalo to you for helping the people of Hawaii stay on track with their help. So mahalo to you too and mahalo to American Diabetes. It was a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you very much. Aloha everyone. Aloha. Bye bye.