During National Volunteer Week, we recognize our 2023 volunteer award recipients. These are Breakthrough T1D volunteer partners who endlessly share their passion and commitment to advancing our shared mission forward. We are proud to honor Crista Bode for her noteworthy contributions as a Walk Committee Member, Gala Committee Member, Community Engagement Committee Member, Chair of School Healthcare Team Webinar Subcommittee, Outreach Ambassador (formerly Outreach Volunteer), Chats from Home Co-Host, and Advocate.
The Bode family participates in several Breakthrough T1D events and programs, and have made an indelible impact on the chapter and our success. (In addition to Crista’s many volunteer roles, her husband Jim is a member of our Community Board, Stewardship Committee, and Corporate Development Committee.) The Bode’s Walk team, “ANNA’S ALL-STARS” has consistently been a top team (across all sites, not just Boston) and has raised more than $128,000 since 2019. In 2022 the team raised $35,761 for Breakthrough T1D’s mission! Crista, as a member of the Walk committee, works to steward other Walk teams and shares her own best practices with others.
The school healthcare team webinars, a subcommittee that Crista chairs, has expanded our reach to school nurses and other school personnel across our large geographic footprint of Maine, eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Crista represents Breakthrough T1D at school nurse conferences held throughout the year. Crista has provided compassionate support to countless newly diagnosed families in her role as Outreach Volunteer and continues to engage with Bag of Hope and T1D Care Kit requestors as an Outreach Ambassador. She and her daughter Anna participated in the Promise to Remember Me meetings this past July and August (and we are beyond excited that Anna has been selected as a 2023 Children’s Congress delegate!). Crista and Jim donate generously to the Walk and Gala, and are BETA Society members. Jim’s company Beck Bode sponsors the Gala and plans to become a Greater New England Chapter partner as they sponsor other chapter events this year. On top of all her other volunteer commitments, Crista is also a member of the Gala committee and will serve as Vice Chair next year.
In their letter to family, friends, and colleagues asking for support of ANNA’S ALL-STARS for their first Walk in 2019, Crista wrote: “As a family, we have made it our mission to not only ‘hope’ for a cure, but to do everything we can to help find a cure for this disease.” Crista and the Bode family’s commitment to Breakthrough T1D is exemplary. Crista is ALL IN for Breakthrough T1D and she and her husband Jim are givers of their time, talent, and treasure. She is one of those volunteers who can (and does) wear multiple hats and we trust her implicitly. Crista is passionate, empathetic, collaborative, communicative, organized, reliable, and patient. She is a team player, equally comfortable interfacing with staff at all levels while also leading a group of volunteers toward a common goal. Crista’s positive energy and attitude are infectious and her willingness to jump in and roll up her sleeves in any way she can has been a tremendous asset to our chapter. We are truly grateful for all she does to fight for her daughter Anna and all those living with or caring for someone with T1D. Crista is an incredible volunteer partner who is making a tremendous difference on behalf of the Greater New England Chapter and our local community!
Crista, you are an invaluable member of the Breakthrough T1D family and our community. Thank you for being a T1D Changemaker by lending your time and talent to bring us closer to our goal of curing T1D!
-All of us at the Breakthrough T1D Greater New England Chapter
