CORNWALL, Ontario – Close to 300 people tickled their taste buds with craft beer from across Ontario on Friday, November 4 as twelve different breweries and a cidery set up shop at the Agora Centre to craft a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
In its fourth year, Cure raised over $25,000 for JDRF and the beer tasting fundraiser continues to bring attention and public support to Type 1 diabetes. Commonly referred to as juvenile diabetes the disease affects children well into adulthood.
Organizers Jeff and Cherie Lalonde have two children with Type 1 diabetes and decided four years ago that they wanted to get involved with the cause.
“We want to help fight the good fight” said Jeff “It’s really doubled in size since we started this and we couldn’t be happier”.
A unique fundraising addition has been created this year with Sawdust City Brewing from Gravenhurst, Ontario coming on board. Their 1105 beer now includes the Crafting a Cure logo and they will be donating one dollar from every sale during the month of November to the cause.
Sawdust City brewmaster Sam Corbeil has an eight-year-old daughter with Type 1 diabetes and was eager to get involved.
“We wanted to do something that added a splash, something big that allowed us to donate as much money as we possibly could to the cause” said Corbeil.
He is impressed to see so much support adding “It’s fantastic, they’ve really done such a great job getting breweries from all across the province to be here and it’s nice to see so many people out. Beer can do good things too”.
Local brewery Rurban was on-site for the second year but owner AJ Roraback has been involved since the inception of the fundraiser.
“It’s a local cause started by local people and is very personal to a lot of people here. It’s absolutely amazing that we could pull the whole area together and raise so much money”.
Beer aficionados were able to sample an array of beer and cider while listening to the musical stylings of Reverb Syndicate throughout the night. The fundraiser also included a massive silent auction as well as a live auction and door prizes.
An assortment of local JDRF fundraisers took place throughout the year leading up to Crafting a Cure. Said Jeff “We’re just so happy that all this money keeps coming in and we know it is making a difference”.
