Jeans for Joslin

Friday, April 09, 2010

Fifth-grader Hannah Winiker (seated) took the initiative for a unique charity campaign last month at the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School in Franklin, Massachusetts. The school’s dress code normally doesn’t allow blue jeans, but Hannah went to the head of the school, Kevin 0'Malley, to ask for a day in which students and faculty could wear jeans if they donated a dollar to the Jeans for Joslin program.

Hannah was diagnosed two years ago with type 1 diabetes. “Diabetes is like the friend you never thought you would have, but now you do, so the better you take care of it the better it will take care of you,” she says.
 
Hannah led the successful program at Benjamin Franklin by distributing posters and flyers to students and around the school. Last summer she raised money for diabetes research by opening lemonade stands in her neighborhood. Currently the Winiker family is putting together a team for a diabetes walk this fall.
 
Each eighth-grader at the school is required to complete a capstone project. Although that’s three years away for her, Hannah is already planning a capstone project geared toward raising awareness of diabetes and finding a cure, says her mother, Heidi Winiker.