Meet our three Fund A Cure champions, Taylor Kearns, Ella Virkler, and Audrey Demong, three women with their own unique stories who share the history, challenges, and successes of living with T1D.  

Audrey Demong
Diagnosed at 10 years old, 2.5 years ago, Audrey took the news of her new life with grace and fortitude. Each day she is determined to live the best life possible. Audrey is joining us in telling her story at the 51st Promise Gala because it is important to her that each individual living with T1D has access to the same care she had. She aspires for a future where no one will have to live through this life-threatening autoimmune disease.  

Ella Virkler
12 years ago, Ella received her diagnosis at 10 years old and she has continued flourishing ever since. Even before joining us at the Gala, she’s used her voice to advocate for research funding and policies that support affordable access to T1D management tools and met with members of Congress and federal decisionmakers at Children’s Congress. Ella also interned at the Greater New York Metro Chapter, along with her 6-year-old diabetic alert dog named Magpie, this past summer to experience fundraising firsthand, shortly after graduating from Wake Forest University.  

Taylor Kearns
Diagnosed at 5 years old, 40 years ago, Taylor wants to raise funds to support critical research to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people’s lives. Taylor showcases her resilience by running marathons in support of the T1D community. Taylor will share her story on November 14, because it is vital to her that no one should ever have to fear developing this disease.  

Taylor, Ella, and Audrey will share more about their T1D journeys on November 14 at this year’s 51st Annual Promise Gala.  

Consider making a Fund A Cure gift, directly supporting research by visiting Donate to Fund A Cure 

More About Fund A Cure:
Fund A Cure donations are 100% tax-deductible donations, that will be invested in Breakthrough T1D’s effective and focused research agenda aimed to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people’s lives until there is a cure. We envision a world where the burden of T1D no longer exists. It’s a world where people don’t have to manage their diabetes—don’t take insulin, don’t have blood-sugar highs and lows, and don’t develop complications. That’s how we define cures for T1D, and it requires continual advancement on three fronts: early detection, disease-modifying therapies, and cell therapies.