How much can $1 buy? At a Marshalls Breakthrough T1D Sneaker Sale, so much more than you might think—just ask Moira.
In 1999, when Boston mother Moira McCarthy Stanford walked into a Marshalls store with her two daughters, the family was still reeling from the diagnosis the previous year of younger daughter, Lauren, then six, with type 1 diabetes (T1D). With no family history of the disease, the Stanfords were, not surprisingly, overwhelmed with the task of learning how to manage it.
Then a Marshalls cashier asked one simple question and changed everything. “Would you like to donate $1 to help cure diabetes?” It was the Marshalls annual Breakthrough T1D Sneaker Sale. Moira says she had never responded to anything so enthusiastically as that simple question.
That was the day Moira first learned about Breakthrough T1D—but it wasn’t her last surprise. The family decided to attend the Breakthrough T1D Boston Walk to Cure Diabetes—only two days away—and quickly raised nearly $500 for the event. Thousands of people came out to support Breakthrough T1D and this common cause—their cause. Moira recalls feeling shocked, and grateful. “For the first time, we were not alone,” she says.
Moira has since served in many leadership roles both in her chapter and at the national level. Over the last 14 years, the family has raised no less than $400,000 for Breakthrough T1D. “And it all started with that single dollar at a Marshalls checkout,” Moira says.
One of Breakthrough T1D’s top-tier corporate partners, Marshalls has been raising funds and awareness for T1D research since 1994. In fact, the department store has raised more than $20 million for Breakthrough T1D. But above and beyond those crucial research funds, Marshalls and its employees do so much more. As Moira’s story shows, they bring together the T1D community; help us grow the Breakthrough T1D family; and motivate us to reach our highest fundraising potential. In celebration of everything they’ve done for Breakthrough T1D, Marshalls was presented this summer with a Breakthrough T1D 2013 Children’s Congress Award.
“I’m incredibly thankful to that cashier,” says Moira. “I don’t know if the people at Marshalls know the impact they can have, but they literally changed my family’s life.”
The 20th annual Marshalls Breakthrough T1D Sneaker Sale is going on now, and you can help make this year’s campaign the biggest one yet. It couldn’t be easier. September 1 through October 5, just walk into any of Marshalls’ more than 900 locations in the United States and Puerto Rico and purchase a Breakthrough T1D Paper Sneaker with a donation to Breakthrough T1D at checkout.
And of course, don’t forget to thank your cashier for helping us reach our vision of a world without T1D.
