Episode #142: Feeney Talks with Samantha Merwin and Shaleela Pina (ElbowBumpKid Inc.)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
All right, all right.
Feeney talks with friendsepisode 142 I'm very excited.
We're some really good friends.
How are you doing, Sam?
Excellent.How you doin, Sheila? Very well.
What with the elbow bump, kid
incorporated.
Elbow bump.
Kid e back where that start?

(00:20):
So? So cool with the logo.
I want to say thank you.
Very interesting. Right away with the top.
With the name.
Yeah.
So the logo was actually madeby an art teacher,
who lives in the Farmington area.
So she developed it for us years ago.
But my kid, it just graduated,last week from high school.
And when he was little,he has a lot of food allergies, so,

(00:41):
you know, you go up to somebody,
you meet them,you shake their hand. Right?
So when he was little, we were like,no, no, no, don't shake anybody's hand.
So he used to elbow bumps.
So back in,
you know, 2019 when we were lookingfor the name of a nonprofit, you know,
all of us women are sitting around,we're like, oh, the elbow bump kid.
And that's how our name came out.
And it was just love it.Recognition. Love it.
I teach in a school,so I do a lot of knuckle knocks.

(01:03):
I used to do high fives, but again,sharing
germs and coughs and so elbowsI do something.
If I'm holding something,I do an elbow, elbow bump kid, I love it.
And that's our logo and it's awesome.
And that is a.
That is like. Wearing the type one.
Yeah that one that that's a that's calledthe Dexcom Continuous glucose meter.

(01:25):
And it helps measure the blood sugar forthe children that have type one diabetes.
And type two,some type two have it as well.
Very cool.
I love it,
but I mean it's a logo that you know,right away you see what's going on.
I teach third grade.
You brought it up.
Can you explain what type one diabetesis to a third grader?

(01:47):
I can take that.
My son was diagnosed at ten years old,so he was finishing,
fifth grade and entering six.
So we had to kind of explain
to him and elementary levelexactly what was happening to him.
So, type one diabetes is the autoimmune,
type ofdiabetes that affects your immune system.

(02:08):
So what that means is that the pancreasis no longer producing insulin.
So you will require insulin therapy,
whether that be multiple daily injectionsor through an insulin pump.
My child, requires a pump.
So what we do ishe has a continuous glucose meter.
As we mentioned before,the Dexcom G6 or Dexcom G7.

(02:30):
And what that does is monitorright to his phone.
And my phone as well as my husband, areyou can have up to ten
people followexactly where his blood sugar is at.
So if he's in a high or low,we all are alerted.
We then also have that in conjunctionwith an insulin pump
which delivers insulin to him againall through his phone.
So thankful for that technology.

(02:52):
On a regular basis as needed.
And, anytime he has a meal, he knows thathe has to input the carbs from his meal
into the, insulin
pump for to administerthe proper amount of insulin to him.
Yeah.
That's great.
I'm glad that you mentioned that,because I work at a
well worked out of camp last summer,and the school nurse
was always checking, you said up to ten.

(03:14):
So I think they allowed the camp nurseto check insulin.
And we're like the one time it was like,hey, this person is low,
let's go check it out.
And I think the nurse brought some
something to eat to make surethat the numbers were good to go.
Yeah, she just had type one diabetes.
My kid, the the official elbow mom kid.
He'd be here tonight, but
he just graduated,so he's clearly got other things going on.

(03:35):
But since he was a baby,
he was literally 17 months old in my armswhen he was diagnosed.
We went through all the elementary schoolyears.
We used to sit down with the classes,you know, cater
for pretty much stopped in fifthat that point.
My kid didn't want me around anymore.Right? Yeah.
So we would sit down in front of theclass with a book and explain, you know,
if you ever see sage, you know, in acorner of sage ever, you know, looks off,

(03:56):
you know, or looks sick, you know,please go get an adult, get a teacher.
See, he's going to need juice.
You know,
there was juice boxes, juice box stationsall around, you know, every classroom.
So make sure sage gets a juice.
The sage look in trouble. Callsomebody, get an adult.
That's pretty much what we would say it.
Yeah.
You know that third grade ageand fourth grade, you know, we would,
you know, maybe take it a step further.
But it was always, you know, sagewill have, you know, it's not a toy,

(04:20):
you know, make sure you don't touch it.
Only sage can touch it, you know, that'show pretty much we explained in that sage
needs that,you know, to help him be healthy and safe.
Very good.
So your son's name is sage.And what's your son's?
My son's name is Talon. Talon?
Talon and sage.
Very cool.
And then so he was 17 months.
So that was his dih versary.

(04:41):
Did I say that right.
Yes he did. Yeah.
So typically because I.
Learned something new, I didn't knowabout a diversity till I saw your website.
So I thought that was very interestingwhen I explain what a day of nurseries.
Yeah.
So some people celebrate us,some people don't. We do.
So when their diagnosisand official diagnosis date ours
was July 11th, 2008,a day that lives in infancy.

(05:01):
So every year some familiescelebrate the accomplishments, right?
Because a type one diabetic makesa lot of extra decisions every single day.
You know, there's a study out therethat says it's 180 plus or minus.
That's probably about right.
So, you know, Talon or Sageare going out for an activity okay.
You know, what's their level.So they need to reduce their insulin.
Do they need to bring snacks,you know, etc..

(05:24):
Before they put food in their mouth.How many carbs is it?
Do I not know?I have to go Google it, right?
Or I have to golook on, you know, a carb or something.
So we celebrate that every year.
You know,around the anniversary of the diagnosis.
So we have a programthat we put in a couple of years ago.
It was grant funded at the time, and wecontinue it, where we send cards to kids.
So any, any family around the countrythat has that's impacted by type

(05:47):
one diabetes, they can request a card
and we just mail it out every yearuntil they tell us that, yeah, there's.
Some information to fill out.
United States only right now.
But, yeah, you fill in the infoand you'll send them.
A cardbecause that. That's very cool. Yeah.
If it was, if was other countrieswe have that we started doing that.
We're like no, no, nowe can't because they just don't get it.
Yeah, yeah.It's just too much of a mail delay for us.
And there's
yeah, there's only so much time in the daywe start mailing cards

(06:09):
around the world to everyone.
Right. Exactly.
So it's small, but it's small,but it's mighty.
We have a few hundred peoplethat we send them to.
So cool. Now, we have so much in common.
Friends of Feeney.
Elbow kid. Elbow bump.
Kid incorporated.
You know, full time teacher.
But we're all.
We work on a volunteer basis.

(06:29):
We have all of our supportersand donators are volunteers.
So I just think it's great,and I commend you.
What? Where do you find the inspiration?
Well, I'm sure your son being thethe original elbow bump kid,
but where do you find the time?
How do you manage your time?
Any suggestions or advice?
It's a loaded.

(06:49):
That's a lot of questionsand a loaded question.
So yes.
Yeah, sage was definitely the inspirationfor sure.
For the nonprofit, it actually startedbecause there were a couple of families
that needed some help.
And there were a few parents
that, you know,originally started a nonprofit with me.
They've since moved on from their boardterms and more.
You know, we are volunteer.
We are volunteer run, just like you.
We all work full time,

(07:10):
in and out of corporate America, communityfunded, you know, by individual donors.
So same thing as friends of Feeney.
So we like being friends with you.
Because we have so much in common.
So there were a couple of familiesthat needed help,
and we weren't a nonprofitand we didn't know how to help them.
So that kind of gave us a check to,you know, to get it together
and get it doneso we can help those families.
That's how we startedwas with helping a couple of families.

(07:31):
And then it just, you know, it grew.
The original, nonprofit was,you know, was based off of,
you know, helping families, you know,with some, you know, diabetes education.
And then we moved to monthly eventsand then we moved to the programs,
you know, thatwe'll talk about afterwards.
You know, all the programs that we have,we are completely volunteer on.
So we are dependent on our volunteersto show up, you know, say what they're,

(07:52):
you know, do and,you know, do what they're going to do,
say what they're going to say.
So probably just like you, you know,there's bumps in the road with that.
But overall we've had some pretty,you know, amazing volunteers time wise.
You know, I would say thatall of us have our own ways of,
you know, of doing things and, you know,so I block off, you know,
a couple of hours, you know, several daysa week to get things done.

(08:13):
You know, other people like, you know,we have, our secretary, Caitlyn.
I don't know where she findsthe time. She's fantastic.
It feels like she's always on,you know, doing things.
And then, you know, she'll let you know.
You can tell when she's doing things,so she sends it.
We all as professional,you know, volunteers
because we have a nonprofit commitmentto get the stuff done.
I feel like we all haveour ways of time management,

(08:34):
but we all, you know,adhere to the commitments that we made.
Yes. As she stated,
we started with families that we hope I'mone of the families that were help.
I was looking for support.
My son was diagnosed July 2nd, 2021,
in a time that Covid was happening.
So where do you find support?
His school speech

(08:57):
pathologist had a friendthat knew Samantha.
I got introduced through
one of the designer pocketbook bingos,which was fabulous.
So it's womenand designer pocketbooks at a brewery.
Just a good time.
So that's how I was able to find them
and get the support we needed,which was for education in the summer.

(09:17):
My son was the first in our familythat was diagnosed with type one diabetes.
So it was wonderful to have this contactand this connection with others
and know that you're not alone. As far as
we work full
time and to find downtime,don't let her fool you.
She likes to travel. That's her downtime.
She's probably been all aroundthe world twice.

(09:38):
I myself, my husband cooks, so I eat.
That's my downtime.
I enjoy eating his cooking, and, we do.
We take trips and things.
So when it's time for the nonprofit,it's time.
And which seems to be taking more timethan our full time jobs.
But we love it
because we're here to help those familiesand let them know that you have support.

(10:02):
You can thrive despite the diagnosis.
And you know we're here. Yeah.
That's amazing.
Yeah. Your mission
is to provide familiesimpacted with type one diabetes
to the opportunity to thrive,learn and grow despite the diagnosis.
I love it.
And then our mission is to help
children and families that need assistanceafter heartbreak or tragedy.

(10:22):
So, you know, there's some overlap there,and we're both volunteers.
Oh, I even introduced this is Feeney TalksWith Friends.
I mentioned that, I use this podcast
to talk to wonderful people in communitythat are doing great things.
And here we are.
I'm so happy to talk with Sam and Sheilafrom the Elbow Bump Kid Incorporated.

(10:45):
You guys are doingwonderful things in the community.
So honored to speak with you.
We met at Bernie's for charity.
Yes. Two years ago.I missed it this year.
I think there was, Oh, it was Aprilbreak of school,
so I went to go see my,an uncle in Cape Cod.
That's my downtime.
I go to Hyannis. Centerville area.
I love it there.
And, but you met with Matt and chatted.

(11:07):
My guy.
He's the chairman of the board,so he's a wonderful volunteer.
You have your wonderful volunteersand just someone that buys
in and believes in whatwe're doing, our mission and our goals.
So thank you, Matt, if you're listening, thank you for making this connection.
And thank youfor everything that you're doing.
So what was said at the birdies and
I mean, we met two years ago,

(11:28):
sat at the same table, randomly chatted,
connected, again, had that common bond.
So here we are. It's great.
Yeah.
We I followed you ever sincebecause I was like, oh, this is great.
There's another nonprofitthat's, you know,
community, you know, community run, you know, community funded, community run.
So I like your mission.
I've sent a family,you know, here and there,

(11:48):
you know, through you,I sent a donor there.
There was a donor on Reddita couple of months ago.
That was that was,you know, his company in Connecticut
was, like, gathering donations,and he knew a specific place.
And so all the responders were going,oh, Salvation Army are.
Oh, good. Well, and I'm like, no,you need to go to friends of Feeney.
And then you messaged me backand he's like, they're great.
Of course I'm going to donate to them.
So do you know who do you wantto talk about it and share after?

(12:11):
Or I would have to go on myI would have to go on my app and see
because he messaged me. But you know.
I mean, thank you for that connection.Yeah.
He wanted somebody
who directly helps families,but he didn't want it disease oriented.
Clearly. Otherwise it would have been.
Oh, and prior to us meeting you,
birdies,
I seen your sign at the WestHartford Redemption Center.

(12:32):
We had been collecting cans for like,two years, just, you know,
and during Covid and before you know it,you have five humongous garbage bags.
Okay. And so I'm like, well,where do I bring these in such bulk?
You know,I can't just go to stop and shop.
There's too many now.
So, someone said, go to the WestHartford, which I'm never been.
So I go and there's this green signthat says Friends of Feet.

(12:55):
And I'm like, well, what's that?
And the gentleman there explained to me,you know, this is,
nonprofit in the areathat helps families in need.
He's like, you have all these cans.
Are you a nonprofit?
At that point, I wasn't associate it yet,but he's like, we can,
you know, collect, and maybe this issomething you're interested in.
So that's what sprung me to you.

(13:15):
And then I said, I'mseeing this green circle sign everywhere.
So who's friends are? Feeney?So I began to look you up.
And then we met at Birdie's,and here we are.
That's my guy. Chit chat is amazing.
Yeah. People just donate and say,hey, chat.
These are for friends of Feeney. And he,like, stashes them.
He keeps a notebook app on his phoneand we see him like once a month.

(13:36):
And then in addition to that,Lyons Auto is, Mechanic Place.
They collect ourcans and they store a big,
trailer or
container or whatever, those shippingcontainers filled with cans.
So once a monthwe bring them from there and chat.
Just chat.
It's amazing how he counts them.He's like.

(13:58):
It's about $300.
Just looking at the bag.
He's like, estimate.
Yes, it's in your favor, right?
Yeah. We're just like, sure. Thanks.Thanks, Chet.
You have a lot of good friends in WestHartford. Yeah, good.
Good people.
West Hartford. I'm very excited about.
You know, it's a wonderful community.
We just went all types of awardsfor a great place to live.

(14:18):
I don't know if it's number 9 or 19, but,It's up there.
The mayor is amazing,and a lot of businesses and companies
are bought into our missionand help support us.
You know, like it? Oh, sponsors.
That's that'sthank our sponsors direct Line Media.
I met through West Hartfordthat he, Dave and Stephania
do our, do our podcast.

(14:38):
We're here at Maximum Beverage.
They're wonderful people.
I taught Matt Whitney. He'sone of the owners.
I taught his daughterJulia in my third grade class.
We've been we did a can driveand here we are now podcasting.
And they're beautiful place in the back.
Parkville management people's Bank
last podcast episode 141with people's Bank Ryan Young.

(15:00):
Just one young professional of the yearby the West Hartford Chamber.
So shout out to Ryan Young and Theresa.
That was a wonderfulpodcast. Their sponsors
Keating Agency Insurance,
Luna Pizza, Brook Golf Law Group,
The Fix, Ivy float, 41,
and West Hartford Lock.

(15:21):
Those are all our sponsors, all wonderfulpeople that sponsor our podcast.
But I could go.
The list goes on of people
that we've worked with, our sponsored,our parade t shirts.
Oh, and this with this being said,watch with West Hartford Lock.
What are three keysthat make you a great nonprofit?
Three I'm going to start one.

(15:42):
Our connect ability.
We make sure that we connectwith the, community that we serve.
I would say,
the most Kiki would beour volunteers, right?
Because we can't, you know, I'mone person, and I
have found over the years that, you know,with having some amazing volunteers
that help execute the missionthat I wanted to do so many years ago.

(16:06):
We couldn't we couldn'twe cannot be a successful nonprofit
without the volunteersthat we have that continue to grow,
people like Sheila that we help thatin turn winds up coming onto our board
or being permanent volunteersand helping us execute a program
we just absolutely could not dowithout them.
And I love hearing that.
We we helped Rob,and now he's on our board.

(16:28):
Yeah. Exactly.
And I would say the third is partnerships.
You know, partnerships
like this, you know, partneringwith other nonprofits, partnering
with some small businessesthat have helped us along the way,
you know, just, you know, emailing tobusinesses and saying, hey, we're small.
We don't have a lot of a budget for this,
but could you give us a discountto help us get this to a family?
So there's been, you know,quite a few like that.

(16:49):
So we couldn't do itwithout some of the partnerships.
We just wouldn't be able to help,you know, as many people as we do
without, you know, successfulnonprofit and business partnerships.
Nice. Absolutely.
I forgot to shout out Sally and Bob's.
They're also awonderful sponsor. Yes. They
are phenomenal. Yes.
Excellent. And then connections.
Oh, you mentioned before the pod cricketpress, right.

(17:09):
Talk aboutwonderful people in the community.
I know because I was saying I had not,you know,
listen to a full podcastoutside of Instagram.
And I logged in to listento a couple of podcasts
to see what kind of questionsyou're going to ask me.
Right? Dylan surprises.
So I liked it.And I see that cricket person.
I'm like, oh,he looks like a really nice guy.
And I email him saying, hey, you know,
we could use some stickersand other stuff, you know,
do you have a nonprofit discountautomatically?

(17:31):
You know,he writes back a nice professional email.
He'll give us 20%.
What else do we need?
So we actually need a lot of thingsfor our celiac project coming up,
you know, in August.
So I said I'd, you know, get back to himpretty soon.
But yeah, automatically it was,you know, a nice nonprofit discount.
And yeah,so nice. We're trying to help us already.
And I haven't even met him.I just heard, yeah.
You know, but, for your Greg.

(17:51):
Confessor, Greg, he he may be a new dad.
I don't know, I don't know.So he wrote you back?
He's an on brand new dad.
He was.
We he was, like, three weeks away from.
Well, his wife was three weeks awayfrom giving birth on the podcast.
That was a month ago.
So if my math, my third grademath serves me correct.
Congratulations.
You're a real man now, Greg.

(18:12):
But, Greg, just, like officiallyannouncing on your podcast, right?
Exclusive.
The exclusive. Yes. No.
These Greg made these.
Oh, some stickers for you. Thank you.
Oh, I love it. Be a good friend.
We're so as you be a good friend.
You'll see those stickers around.These are the Vincent Van Gogh style.
And I say you change in the background.
Is not the solid at Hunter green anymore,I like it.

(18:33):
We worked with Rise Upmurals and, collaborated.
We have a mural at Parkville Market.
If you go into the upstairs,into the local, the bar,
you'll see that mural there.
For students, help paint it.
Zoe, Jack, Hanna and Teagan.
So, they helpeddesign it with Julia from Rise Up.
So we're really cool.So we made stickers to honor it.

(18:55):
So I've never been to Parkville Marketexcept for your knapsack.
Your.
I visited your backpack thing last yearbecause I wanted to see what you know.
I wanted to see one their events
because backpacks have absolutely nothingto do with helping a family from a loss.
And I'm like, let me seewhat these new people are doing.
You know, outside of,you know, outside of your mission.
So it was great.
There were, you know, tons of familieslined up to get to get backpacks

(19:18):
full of supplies. Yeah.
So sage and I went and we were just,you know, looking around, and.
I think being a teacher back to schoolis always very important, right?
I also collaboratedwith Lost Arts Barbershop.
So we had like six barbersdoing free haircuts.
So you have to have a fresh cutto go back to school.
You have to have a backpackand a fresh cut.
What else do you needto go back to school?
Well, if you're a type one kid,you need a low blood sugar supply kit.

(19:40):
So that's what we do ever happen.Can you maybe.
Yeah, maybe add to our back to school.
Yeah. That's what we do.
We're going to do every yearbefore I back to school,
as we make low blood, we havemake your own low blood sugar supply kit.
So if we have an event near there
and a family can pick it up at that,if not, they can do a drive by through,
they can do a drive by,you know, one, one specific day
that I have, you can pick them up,you know, for a couple hours.

(20:02):
That's not a bad idea.
If you have any of your kidsthat have type one.
Would you partner with us?Because we're going to do that again?
Yeah, sure.
We would love to give you awe'll give you a whole booth, a table.
Well, we'll add you to the flier.
That'd be exciting.
Partnershipand we would love the children.
Do they decorate the kit?
And it has necessary suppliesso that the nurse or,
some of the classroom teachers have it.

(20:23):
In my son's case,the nurse always has his backup
insulin pump and, continuousglucose monitor.
The teachers also keep low bloodsugar supplies in the classroom
so that in the case that he solo,he can't walk to the nurse,
they're able to treat him on siteand have her come to him.
So it is very important that
that should be in your back to schooltoolbox or a book bag, if you will.

(20:47):
If you are a type one diabetic.
Now, how do they get there?
If they don't have transportationto people, do do they get busted.
To the Parkville market thing? Yeah.You had to get your own ride.
Yeah. You don't come all right.
But it's a community.
There's a good walking communityif they can get there.
But I mean, the numbers were pretty good.
So yeah, I know.
So that might help us reach some ofthe people that aren't on social media.

(21:10):
So no, we would like.
Maybe if someone hears this podcast,you can, donate transportation
for the childrenthat don't have rides. Friends of Feeney?
Elbow bump. Kidding. We recommend it.
And I'm all about collaboration,power and numbers,
so I really lookforward to the partnership.
Yeah.
Parkville Market and Lost Arts Barbershopand just,
Ashley at Park is fantastic.

(21:31):
They.
What else did we do?
I did a podcast with Carlos Mota.
He's the owner of the building.
So he's a really nice guy.
It's great people,you know, they're just trying to help out.
So be a good friend is our motto.
Hold the door.
Pick up trash. It's not yours.
Give compliments and be charitable.
I'm going to go back and forth.

(21:52):
So, Sam, you're going to tell mewhat makes Shella a good friend?
Shelly? Like you're going to tell me what?
What makes Sam a good friend?
Any order?
Go ahead.
Okay.
What makes Sama good friend is she's always available.
She tells me she works
full time at a business,but she's always available day or night.

(22:13):
She does say I'm going to turn off,
the phone for these hours,but yet she replies to my text messages.
So, I just thank herfor giving me the education
that I needed, to make sure that my child is thriving
despite the diagnosisand to make sure that we have support.
You know, it'swhat's not talked about is sometimes

(22:37):
how much goes in to having a childwith a diagnosis as this,
as she stated,they make about 180 decisions more a day.
And the parents,I feel like make about 280 more per day
just to make sure that they haveeverything they need.
So her nonstop support and her,
fearless leadership with our nonprofit,

(22:57):
making sure we kind of just continuouslygrow even though we're small.
That's what makes her a good friend.
Oh, that was nice.
I always say what makes Shalalaa good friend is her ability
to roll with my craziness.
So we have a lot of, That's whyI have my notebook in front of me.
Because we have so many programssometimes that I want to make sure
that, you know,we have the opportunity to mention them.

(23:18):
So I will say, hey, you know, we could bein the middle of something crazy
like we are right nowwith the celiac project.
And I can say, hey, by the way,what do you think about this?
Somebody suggested usand I think it's great.
And she will be like, she'll look at me.
She'll be like,all right, what do we need to do?
Like she'll step in her whole family,by the way, not just Shalala.
Shalala is a package deal.
You know, we have chef

(23:38):
and, and Taillon,all three of them will come to everything.
And Shalala I mean, of course,she gives them the kick.
You know, they have just dived right inand just got involved with,
you know, as soon as they got themselveshelped to get to the place
they needed to be,they jumped right in and said, okay,
how can I helpsomebody else love that about them?
And they're they're there for everything.
I love it,

(24:00):
It's exciting.
You guys are good friends
and thanks for being here.
We try to be good friends.
I saw something really coolon the website. Friends for life.
Come on.
How do I get involved? Response.
Can I make a t shirt?What do I have to do? Yeah.
Can you tell us about friends for life?
Sure.
So friends for life is a diabeteseducation event that,
sage went to.

(24:21):
Unrelated.
Unrelated completely.
Yeah.
No, it's a totally different organizationthat runs
it is run by this organization, childrenwith diabetes, which is great. Gotcha.
So sage went for many years, 2015 on.
Like a summer camp.
It's it's a summer diabeteseducation event.
So, so familiesgo and layers like kids track, so kids

(24:42):
have their own separate education,and then parents have their own separate
education that a grandparentstrack young adults whatever.
There's, you know, meetupsand education sessions for anyone.
So for many years up until this year,we sponsored families.
For five years.We gave, family scholarships.
This year, just with sage graduatingand everything else, I wasn't sure
if I was going to be able to go.

(25:02):
So typically I go and make sure familiesare, you know, going off to their sessions
and they're okay.
But we donated to their, to their ownscholarship program this year.
The way, friends for lifehas their own scholarship program as well
to help send this many, familiesas possible to get that education.
So it's a it's a week,in July in Orlando,
which is not super appealing

(25:23):
to everyone, but for some families,it just means everything to be all right.
Though it's not just Orlando, it's Disney.
Oh yeah. Oh well, some years it is.
But you know, basically,you know, it's not just,
it's not just that it's morethere's family in Connecticut.
It's great because we have a community andwe have monthly events for for families.
We have caregiver events.

(25:43):
We have ways to connect the communityin some places.
And like Iowa, Idaho,
there's some places out there that justdon't have the same local community.
And that friends for lifeis everything for them
because it's their only attachmentto, you know, to the type one community.
You know, throughout the year.
So there's places that have great,you know,
great engagementand monthly things just like we do.

(26:05):
But a lot of states don't have thatunless you have a nonprofit like ours.
Right. Has Dylan attended?
Talyn has attendedtwo friends for life, seminars.
I don't know what you want to call them.I call it fantastic.
The first year that we went,was within the first year of him
being diagnosed, and it was througha scholarship with Elbow Bump Kid Inc,

(26:29):
which was amazing.
You get education up on education,
and just you learnso many different things
in that one set, five day event.
It's you're tired, you know, you youyour emotions are all over the place
because to walk into a roomand be in there, what 2500 families

(26:50):
that know exactly what you're goingthrough is like you've come home.
I don't know, it's like almost like you'reyou're you're you're
you found your your tribe, if you will.
And so the first day for me, my husband will share.
I cried all day.
We walked into the first training and,every session, all day.
I was just a messbecause, you know, this was the first time

(27:13):
anyone understood from all differentangles, the good, the bad and the ugly up.
You knowwhat is what a family goes through
that has just recently been diagnosedwith type one diabetes.
So we were home.
My son, if he had ithis way, would go every year,
and he would like it to bemore than once a year because he just,

(27:34):
you know, to have children,that everybody's meter's going off.
You're not the only one in a classroomwhere you're not the only one on the
basketball court.
And your CGM is beeping to be ableto not be the only one
and just be one of was very,very good and uplifting for him. So,
I always say, if you can

(27:54):
attend friends for life once, please do,because there's nothing like it.
Yeah.
If you have type one diabetes.
If you have type one diabetes.
Event.
I mean, I went the past two yearswithout my kid for 48 hours.
I flew in, he,
you know, he's just got, you know, histeenager has other things going on now.
And I was like,you sure you don't want to go?
You sure? You sure it's.
I got my friends off.

(28:15):
I still flew in for 48 hours to just,you know, go to some,
you know, make some,
you know, continuethe connections that I've had in the past,
meet with the vendorsbecause some of the vendors
donate things back to elbow bump kidthat we can give out here.
They'll be like,
you know, like coloring books thatwe give out in our newly diagnosed, kit.
I got the coloring books, crayons,and a bunch of other stuff last year

(28:35):
from the conferencethat we give out to newly diagnosed kids.
That's amazing.
Doing great things.
And we anymore about friends for lifebefore I move on.
Now, I think that's right.
And, it's it'samazing to have type one diabetes.
So we started giving out the scholarwas giving out the scholarship.

(28:56):
I would give up the scholarship to attend.
Right. Exactly. Very nice.
That was wonderful.
That's one of the first things we did.
Like me,you know, like everyone's like me.
Exactly. Because I know I being a teacher.
Nine yearsand Kingsbury School in Waterbury,
same school that I went to as a kid,just finished my 12th year
at Walker Elementary School,the same school that my daughters went to.

(29:17):
I've had many students with diabetes.
He had one kid had like an emergencycan of, like,
sausages or cocktail weenies,I don't know, was that a thing?
Protein after. So some some families.
It depends on how you manage it.
There's no, like, right way,but some families after you,
after you take the low treat,you know, the low treat, which would be,

(29:41):
you know, candy or juice or somethingto bring your blood sugar up.
Yeah.
Again, some families, cheeseand immediately a protein to hold it.
Right.
So if you know, if it's an active day or,you know,
my kid used to get stressed at fourthgrade was ridiculous, right?
I still remember it.
You go into school every single day,and, like, his blood sugar was fine.

(30:01):
And immediately he would just tank.
And I'm like,
what is going on at the schoolthat you were immediately taking?
No matter what we did nothing.
Nothing helps.
Or chasing it with protein,our choice was chocolate milk,
not cocktail weenies, but all for that kidthat was willing to go along with that.
Parents idea.
So, you know, different parentsdo different things,
but chasing it sometimes with proteinwill help maintain it.
Okay. Yeah. Maintain the blood sugar.

(30:25):
Interesting.
Well, let's talk about thisawesome initiative. Yay!
This is fantastic. Yay.
So yeah.
So we are competing for a Red SocksImpact award.
Yeah. So, so we are finalists.
So, nonprofits in New England,were able to apply and they chose

(30:45):
five finalists to compete for, to be the impact award for each state.
So we are competing for Connecticut,against, you know, against,
for other nonprofits.And it's up for community vote.
So you can vote with every,every unique email address
you have once a dayuntil July 21st at 4:59 p.m..
Then they tell you the votesand they let you know on July 23rd.

(31:06):
We are proud to be the Connecticut
Impact winner from last year,which we've done a lot of good with that.
With that Red Sox Impact money,we've been giving out, non
pharmacy supplies to newlydiagnosed families in Connecticut.
So things that they don'tget from insurance like spy belts, insulin
coolers, insulin holders,you know, there's a whole list
of things that we contractedwith, type one companies for.

(31:29):
And we give it out to them meter cases,
sling bags for school, you know,you know, to carry your supplies.
Right. You know, all kinds of stuff.
So we used the Red Sox moneylast year for that.
And we also have a programfor existing diagnosis
where we're giving them,you know, run across a hard time
or your kid, you know, isn't waking upfor Lowe's and you want this,
you know, this thing that helps wakeyou up.

(31:51):
You know, there'sthere's a few things that we've been,
funding, based becauseof the Red Sox money from last year.
So this money, you know, for our smallvolunteer run community funded nonprofit
like us would be, you know, it would meanthe world to us to be able to continue,
to ensurethe sustainability of these programs.
So if people can vote every single day,Red sox.com/impact choose above.

(32:13):
Kid for Connecticut.
A couple years ago.
We want a community grantfrom American Eagle Financial Credit Union
totally catapulted our organizationso that like you said,
I think we won 6000 bucks.
So 6000 to a volunteerbased program is like a million set of,
you know, not to name like Red crossor something that we, pay

(32:36):
their yeah,play their CEOs and stuff like that.
So exactly.
We are the only volunteer runnonprofit on the group.
Everyone else has all the other profitsthat were finalist.
Cade. Yeah, yeah. Has page.
So yeah, it pops right up on your websiteas soon as you put an elbow.
Elbow, kids. Thank you, Kathy Brown.
Kathy, we have a what?
We have a webmaster volunteerwho has been volunteering

(32:59):
since the very beginning, since dayone of Elbow Bumpkin 2019.
She's also on the websiteand the volunteer section
looks like Kathleen Brown.Yeah. She's fantastic.
She's our webmaster.
So yeah, you just scan the card.
And I mean, I voted already today. Yeah.
You can use your work email thoughtoo. Yep.
And they never send you any email,which is great.
I tested it.

(33:20):
And you go to Connecticut.
And elbow bump kid Inc is there. Boom.
Elbow bump kid. Yeah.
And we have reminders on our Facebook pagefacebook.com slash all of them, kid.
We post reminders every single day along.
And I think that next week starts thewe schedule these.
So next week starts diabetes facts.
It'll be a fact today as well that,you know, people can share with their,

(33:40):
you know, with share with their,social community
to, you know, to increase knowledge,speech type one.
The speech bubble is hilarious.
Pro tip use your work email to I.
So funny I did that too.
I'm sorry Ithe when I went for that community.
Grab my.
Come on. You could useall different types of email stuff.
It's tough.
A lot of timespeople are protective of their email
because they don't want junk and all thatmuch junk do you get every day anyway?

(34:02):
But these these guys, I do not.They didn't.
You have till July 21st.
Get out there and. Vote every day.
Every day. Day.
Okay.
Help us, help us, help the community.
So much to sayis very important to add your in
numbers to a lot of things.
Someone suggestedwe we have that on our website
and you have it on your card.Because you never.

(34:24):
Asked us.
What anonymous donor would like to helpand what way shape that makes.
You look official.
And then they can look you uptwo different ways your name and your i-n.
Yeah, sometimes. Yeah.
So we have had a couple of mystery.
You know, not not so I know who they are,but mystery donors through the time.
And you know, you need to make sureI mean it takes nothing to add the

(34:45):
to your, you know, we have iton every letter that we send out. Yep.
Just so they know,they can look us up on the IRS website
any time and seethat we're an official 583 nonprofit.
Exactly.
For how long now?
2019 it was March 2019.
So a little bit more than six years.
I think that's us to March 2019.
We have a nonprofit, we have a ton.

(35:07):
The Saint Patty's Day parade of 2019.
We went official.
We met for a reason.
Yes, absolutely. Timing was great.
Red Sox Nation,
meaning
Red Sox. I get it, I get it, I get it.
Red Sox there. Okay, okay.
All right, all right.
Who's your who's your team?
I'm a Yankee. Fan.

(35:27):
How are you?
I grew up in Brooklyn, so.
Oh. So. But,you know. I wore. Socks again.
Yeah, my mom just went.
My mom went on Father's Daywith her friend
wearing her Yankees gear,and the Red Sox won.
They swept the Yankees this weekend.
That means they won three games in a row.
Yep. Nice.
Beautiful.
Fenway is an amazing place.

(35:48):
You're going back in time.
You're in history? Absolutely.
You know,I give credit where credit's due.
It's a beautiful park. I love Fenway Park.
One of our monthly events recently,just happened to coincide.
It was May 17th, and it coincided with, the celiac awareness game, which is crazy.
And I wrote to the Red Sox, I'm like,you know, we're
I have 62 people coming with meto this game, and a lot of them

(36:09):
are celiac families because typeone and celiac have a correlation, right?
So 6 to 10% of type ones.
Unfortunately we also haveceliac disease is one of them.
And so so another commonality there.
So I'm actually I was seeing rightwhen I came in.
I'm out on a project right now
for three months working on celiacresources, for families with type one.

(36:29):
So when they're diagnosed, they're goingto have a consolidated resource guide.
And some of it is tailored to the factthat you're a type one.
Things are a little bit different. Here'swhat you have to look out for.
And then consolidate some otherthe information
that's out there,get some more updated information.
It'll be,
you know, for our communityand then anybody nationally
that wants to access it,it's going to be there.
But so we were at Fenway and it wasit was Celiac Awareness Night.

(36:53):
It was great.
There was tons of like gluten freesnacks and stuff.
But the lines were crazy.
But it was nice that, you know,I love that.
Well, I know that you know,
you might not be a Red Sox fan,but the Red Sox really do a lot of good
in the community and really pay attentionto their, you know, their fans.
So fans are celiac, right?
You know, brought it up to themand they're like,

(37:14):
hey, let's have a celiac game.
You know they do thingslike that. It's you know. They're having
I sawthat one to highlight in promotional days.
They're having a nigéria,an Independence Day game.
They're having a pride event,they're having Celiac Day, they're having.
Like,they really focus on that community that.

(37:34):
Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Shout out to the Red Sox Foundationbecause they, you know, they're.
Go Red Sox.
You know
and and then the Manning fam family.
Manning familyI immediately thought Peyton
Manning Eli Manning Archie Manningbut totally different right now.
They I think they're the fundsthat power the impact award.
So they are very focused on typeone diabetes research.

(37:57):
So they want to, you know,
they want to be powering the nonprofits,that help with the community,
you know, with community engagementand, you know, and research. So
they are they are funding that.
That's so cool.
Sign up for the programs,join your in-person events.
We're going to talk about programsand in-person events.
Next you order a fruit diversity card.

(38:18):
We talked about thatin your resource page.
An email Samantha, an elbow bump kid.
Oh, you're Samantha.
I am that, you know, no question.
Because I saw a lot. Of.
Know Samantha like on multiple things.
Right.
Yeah.
You know and it's funnybecause I see the info offensive.
Like, should we have an info, an elbowbump, kid?
You know, we're gonna have to think aboutthat, you know, not not just me.

(38:38):
Like,just an info box like you have. Yeah.
We have to think about that.
We can get the info box if we directed to.
Can we have a Friends of Feeneyat gmail.com. You could.
Do you have, elbow bump, kid?
Gmail.com. Yeah.
And then and you can both share it.
Full disclosure, Matt and I sharethe friends of feeney@gmail.com.

(38:59):
Yeah.
No, it's it's a good call out for like,when I'm traveling and stuff.
So I definitely need to,
you know, I need to think about that.
But I saw that and I was like,You know, maybe we should have
a generic info instead of justemail Samantha for everything. So
not that I'm not going to answer itanyway, but you know, we should.

(39:19):
So this raised $15,000.
Was that first place?
Yes. Like last yearwe're in Connecticut. Yes.
That's 15. Right.And then is there a second place.
Third place.
There's a second place which is 5000and a third place which is 3000.
I want to say so, yeah, but 15,000is just the world to power these programs.
So we have monthly events, for kidswith type one every month.

(39:43):
There's something. Right?
Sometimes last year, more than 50% ofit was free or heavily subsidized.
And if a family can't afford it,you know, they just email
me and I say, hey,you know, and I just power it.
So and it's grant moneythat helps to power those.
So it could be something like theIT course.
It could be somethinglike the low blood sugar.

(40:04):
But there's something every single,every single month.
For kids, so this month it's beach day,
which is something we do every year ata, at a volunteers, at a volunteers home.
And then we walk to the beach.
But July is one of our famous eventsthat we've been doing.
This is our third year in a row,and it's one of those partnerships
I was talking about with Merlin'smagic wands.
So they, they help usby giving us some tickets for Legoland.

(40:27):
So I bring familiesdown, 100 people come down to Legoland,
and we have a wish day out.
So familiesgather in front of the Legoland sign.
We check up, we take a group picture,they all go in.
I sit somewhere, usually with my laptop,until a certain time.
I check all the families and I'm like,all right, families, you know?
Magical moment. Let's all meet here.
You know, you have to be there by 1030.

(40:48):
And then I by the type one kids ice cream.
And then the afternoon,there's another magic moment.
Then I leave, and then all the familiesstay till 8:00 when it closes.
So, it's Legoland wish day.
We've done itthree years in a row. It's great. Yeah.
So that's July.
Now, August is something else, you know,and it just
it just keeps going every month.
And then we have quarterly for caregivers.
So it'll be their moms oror caregiver event.

(41:10):
We do something quarterly.
It could be meeting.
This is our moms pajama party.
Yeah. I have a mom's pajama party.
You know, I guess we'll see how that goes.That's the first time trying that one.
But typically we meet at, like,a wooden top or something in pajamas.
No, no, no, no, this one first.
I'm Jewish, I'm a party. But days at
we just typically we just meet.

(41:31):
At a little tap and we're not in pajamas.
But.
Yeah, but this timewe're just trying out something different.
Just being at somebody's house.
So that way, people. Right,you know, really feel like it's.
A little more.You know, those little. Yeah.
Those events look good.
Legoland Goshen, New York,July 26th, 10 to 7.
Yeah.
And then Merlin's magic wandshas donated three years in a row, right?

(41:52):
Correct. So who's Merlin?
Yeah, they did 23, 24, 25.
Who had who's.
Yeah. So they. Talk about. Merlin.
Yeah.
So they're a nonprofit that what they dois they power.
Adventure days for sick kids.
Right.
So, that they surely exist for, like,the Legoland

(42:12):
type attractions or Legoland, you know,their sea life aquarium, stuff like that.
So they power days out.
So last yearthey, they moved to instead of powering
individual families, they power nonprofitto bring individual families.
So something that I had alreadybeen working with them on for two years,
they just moved to.That's entirely what they do now.
It's just worked through nonprofitslike ours.

(42:33):
So I would help the,you know, type one kids and kinetic.
We have some New York kidsthat come to that one, too,
just because I'm connectedwith some New York families.
But, you know, last year we had a couplefamilies come down from Massachusetts.
You know, Vermont, you know, where,you know, where new England
nonprofit and powered by a Facebook groupthat has over 800 parents in it.
So, you know, I just share it in there.

(42:54):
And Merlin has been greatbecause you we just apply for Merlin.
A person or Merlin is the magician.
Yeah. No.
Merlin's magic wandis a foundation of profit, just like us.
Interesting, I love it. Yeah.
No, I saw it.
A couple events stood out.
The, Legoland on July 26th.
The ice cream social in Glastonburyat River Riverfront Park.

(43:16):
Email Emily.
That's July 24th.
So you got back to back.
You got the 24th and the 26th. Yeah.
So that's an example
of one of our nonprofit partnershipsbecause we partner with breakthrough 20
to, to either power some of their eventslike they're taking clinic in November.
So we'll provide volunteers for thatand we'll help coordinate that.
And then they have an ice cream social inJuly that I just put it out

(43:39):
on our websiteso people know, like, hey, go to that.
It's a diabetes event,but it's not necessarily
are events or some of their eventsthat aren't fundraisers.
We will just put out there.
So people, you know,because it's a good way for the community
to gather that's a free event,you know, go spread the word.
I love it with the type one community.
So we just, you know, I would say break31 days is a good friend.

(43:59):
So we, you know,we help power their events and they help
share our events as wellbecause we're partners
and we're all working together,you know, to help the diabetes community.
Spiderweb of spreading awareness.
Yeah, exactly.
Partnering.
And then the sixth annual beach day.
Yes. Waterford, Connecticut.
Yeah. June 28th. It's potluck.
What do we bring it? What do we bring in?

(44:20):
Like some something gluten free.
Right? Yeah.
It's only for the celiac.Something gluten free.
Typically it's very last minute,and I figure it out the hour before.
Maybe a veggie platter.
You know, a lot of it fromour friends of Stu Leonard's or something.
Typically nice.
Yeah,I always, I always seem to run down there.
So we're going to play a game.
So many events, so many things going on.

(44:41):
But the game is first, last, best, worst.
Your first event, your last event,your best event, your worst event.
Maybe something went wrong or missing.
Oh yeah, I get boom. Boom, boom.
You got it.
First, your order for best worst event.
The first event ever that we have. Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
See first is hardbecause we are Covid nonprofit right.

(45:05):
So we started in 2019.
We were all excitedlet's do this. Let's do that.
And then there was 2020. Right.
So okay. You knowso that was kind of our problem.
Our first event would be,you know our friends for life.
Right.
Because that was the first thing we didwas power a couple of families to go.
We fundraised we power.
So technically,our first event was a designer bag

(45:25):
bingo to raise money for familiesto go to friends for life.
And then we powereda couple of scholarships to go.
Our last event for a month in June.
First last event was the Red Sox,was the Red Sox game that we just had.
For June 1st.
We took the kids to spare time and Vernon.
Oh yes, we did have a bowling.We had a bowling event.
For the teams. Yeah, yeah.

(45:46):
So that was that was an exampleof the type ones, being like almost free.
Pretty much thanks to spare time inVernon for, you know, donating, donating.
They do. Glowin the dark bowling. Is that.
It was kind of late.
That was laser tag.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, it was super, super economical.
It was.
Yeah, it was it was incrediblythey they do a lot of good for nonprofits.

(46:06):
If you ask them. Our best event,I love it.
I love the Lego in.
We had a lot of really good events
where where afterwards, you know, kidswill run up to me and be like, thank you.
We had a pottery eventonce I glazed in Glastonbury,
where we sold out the houselike standing room.
Only 55 people making potterywe don't like.
It wasn't a fundraiser.
It was just to make pottery your typeones, and I didn't have them sign up.

(46:28):
I just had them drop and it was like55 people there was insane.
And it was great becausekids were running up to me afterwards.
Thank you,thank you. And it was just fun.
Our worst.
I have to say, no offense to the place,was rock climbing, and rock climbing
as a community event just doesn't workbecause they're all, like.
Good to know.
They're all like,climbing at different times.
And the lines for rock

(46:50):
climbing the lions, there was like20 kids in line to go up the same thing,
and everybody was impatientand everybody was yelling at each other.
We were not,we will not. And we tried it again.
A different rock climbing placeand it was the same outcome.
So rock climbing is a group event without.
Anything, with kids waiting in line.
Yes. As a third grade teacheror a coach, like a little kid,
when I coached little kids soccer.

(47:10):
Versus.Never have them wait in. Line at Legoland.
We split them by age,so that way with them off
and then they meet up afterwards, right.
You know, 7 to 9, you know, go hereand you guys group together.
I always make sure something.Was something in this group.
You do the same ride. It'sgoing to be a nightmare.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
So I would say definitely the worst wasthe worst was rock climbing.
The best is the best is,
you know, Legoland or anythingwhere anything I would say we have

(47:34):
we tried a lot of best,but anything where it's,
you know, the super subsidized onesthat have, you know, more
than, like, you know, 20 to 30 show upand you're like, wow.
You know,we just like, a really good thing
here, you know, because of a grantor because of, you know, a donor
that we were able to do thisfor a community,
you know, that we were able to do thisamazing thing, our, our,

(47:54):
you know, our problem with a lot ofthe free stuff is staff is, is place,
you know, like, yeah,you have this great spot here, right?
Like, but trying to get a spaceto have a kid event craft,
you know, shout out to,you know, to the company
in Middletownthat powers, our game nights.
They donate, their conference roomto our game nights every winter.

(48:15):
But spaces space is tough to have.
Where's the Middletown.
Spot free subsidized events. It is.
But it's at a
conference room in Middletown.
But it's. Yeah, I know.
It's it'sin, it's in a kind of an industrial area,
but it's very nice that they lend usthe space is really.
They're fantastic.

(48:35):
Yeah.
Yeah. So what about you?
Best and worst.
Well, you know what?
My my best is going to be,friends for life.
Of course,because of all the education there.
My worst event.
I did not do rock climbing,my worst state.
But even though Legoland is very nice,my son was at the height
for some of the rides,so we didn't get to it.

(48:57):
Was we?
You know, had never beenthis is beautiful. And we're like, wow.
But we couldn't partake in everything
because I feel like Legolandis for 3 to 12 year olds,
you know, and depending on if you're tall,you might you might have an issue.
So it was too tall for us. Yes.
Some. Some who. Yeah.
Because it is it is geared towardschildren ages 3 to 12.
It's nice for the family you know,and older that like to park take in Legos.

(49:22):
But when you want to get on a ridethere is some height restrictions.
So that was kind of all the worse.
Good for parents because you're like, oh,I can't go on this ride.
I'm too. Tall. Yes.
But no, it was still a nice timeand a nice experience.
See, Floyd.
C, Floyd.
Middletown, Middletown, they,they donate their.
Yeah, they donate their conference roomto us every so often for

(49:46):
they would do itmore if I, if I asked them more.
But you know, I try to rotate the eventsaround this around the state.
So so it's funny, when we first meetthe newly diagnosed program,
I had this vision of personally meetingwith every single person newly
diagnosed in Connecticut, you know?
So I put out the link and the first personthat comes in to Stamford
and the next person that comes inis stores.

(50:06):
And I'm like, yeah, I don't know.
How to drive an all around the state.This is going to work.
You know, today's camein, it was like Redding area, you know,
and then there's another person that'sin waiting right now for our meet up time.
I'll get back to you soon in North Haven.
So, that's. Why there's zoom.
Now I am. I understand the.
Drive for the first.
So for the first, like, 50 families, I'mtrying to personally meet with them.

(50:29):
Since we rolled out the programthis year, I want to I want to tell them,
you know what it is.I want to find out afterwards.
I want to have that personal connection.
So in three months,when I emailed them and say,
what do you wishyou would have had in their you know what?
Like,what do you wish would have been there?
What didn't you use?What do you wish you knew?
You know,
what have you learned afterwardsthat could have been, you know, that could
have been in there, you know, or like,what do you feel is like the most helpful?

(50:51):
So I want their feedback.
And typically
I find that they'll respond to mebetter after I've personally my thumb.
Whereas, you know, if it's just anemail, they probably won't.
So that's our newly diagnosed project.
Yeah. You have a lot of programs.
I don't know which oneyou want to talk about.
The college support program.
Your scholarship program. Yeah.
So I feel like
I feel like the college came out of,you know, I was just doing some research

(51:15):
so randomly, I know in my spare time,which I have none of,
I'll just do some research.
And a lot of timesit feels like from the data that,
you know, when you drop off, you know, so
a lot of the programs are for kids0 to 18, right?
You know, or scholarships,whatever. They go off.
Guess what? They still have typeone diabetes in college, right?
So there's this great nonprofitcalled the Diabetes Link,

(51:36):
which does a lot of good, nationally.
But again, you know,we are very local focus nonprofit
Connecticut, western mass creepingup, as,
you know, as we can Rhode Islanda little bit into Westchester, New York.
So I wanted to focus on the familiesthat we help.
So, we started a college scholarship program,
so we give out a couple of scholarshipsevery year.

(51:57):
It's a competitive process.We have committee.
I don't read thembecause I love all the kids.
And I'd be like, oh,I want to give them all,
so we have a bunch of volunteers againthat really they just run the program.
They tell me who won.
They outreach the people who did it.
When I outreach the winners,I meet up with them, I give them a check.
It's great.
I get to find out what I.
And it's also continuous improvement.

(52:17):
I say what you like about our process.
What? Didn't you, you know,how do you find it?
You know, versus your other,you know, scholarship.
So I love talking to the winners.
But then we also have a college boxin the fall where.
Well, one year is a box,and I mailed out a pile of candy to, like,
21 college kids. Right?
And it's like, hey,treat your low blood sugars.
You know,there was a gift card in there for Dunkin

(52:38):
or Starbucks or whatevertheir parents checked off.
Last year I moved to justcommunicating with the kids.
So it was, you know, we sent outbecause we had the mailing list
from the year before,and then we pushed it out on our social
and our parent group and said,hey, sign up.
You tell your kids to sign up.
So I had their texts.
So I texted them, Starbucks gift cards.
And no matter what we do,we send the links to some of the resources

(53:01):
that are out there, like,you know, with drinking and type one, and,
you know, some of those sensitive topicsto make sure that they have,
you know, access to that through,
you know, through,some of the other nonprofits
that are out therehave some really, really good.
So we just link to that on our website,because why
a lot of times we are like that,we're like, why recreate the wheel?
So I'll just ask the nonprofit,do you mind if I just link

(53:21):
to your information?
Because we have separate peoplethat might be coming to us and not you.
So, so this year,who knows what it's going to be?
But I already have kids signing up, like,
you know, all the time for it, because, the deadline is September 30th.
So I say, once they know their collegeaddress, you know, let me know.
But I think it's a really good wayto just not, you know, so
they they drop off,you know, they go to college,

(53:41):
they don't have the monthly eventsanymore.
You know, they don't have thatthat same connection anymore.
Right?
If they were a youth ambassador with,you know, with, through or with us,
they're not anymore because youthambassadors stops at that age.
So, you know, it's a it's a way of keepingthem, you know, somewhat connected.
And then, you know,we have a couple of great,
college students that, you know,like Ella, actually, Ella lives in West

(54:04):
Hartford.
You know, if she comes back
and she's around and available, she'll,you know, she'll text me and be like, hey,
do you need me for an event or something?
And she'll come back and volunteer.So. Good.
No, I love people coming back.
And gettinghelped and then joining the team.
That was very powerful momentin the podcast.
Anything else with the programs,

(54:25):
any other programs?
New families, familyhardship program, scholarship?
We talked about that college support.
We're oh, is sage going to college?
It's just going to, you know, since
he's, made a financial decisionthat he didn't want loans.
And CSU's the way and they havethey have a new climate science program
that they introduced last year.
So just really excited to, you know, to be one of the first to

(54:48):
enjoy that curriculum.
So Tom Pence's the athletic directorof CSU's My Neighbor and podcast guest.
You should check it outso sage can go up to him.
But hey, I know you.You were on the podcast.
Tom's a good friend.
Was a tennis playerin high school up till this year.
Does he want to play for central?
I know the guy, I don't know, I could gethim, I could get him on the team.
I don't. Know. Tom.I could find you a new tennis player.

(55:11):
I don't know if they have tennis and ccaeaI don't know.
I don't know that they do.
Well, yeah.
So our show, our new patient programs,people find out about that
through some great friends we have at, Connecticut Children's and Medical Center.
Yeah.
So both, children's diabetes programs,they have, index card
that looks like this, except, the other side, like basically, right now

(55:32):
it's red socks contest, but the other sidebasically tells families
how to connect with us,so they'll give them in their,
in their patient, like, discharge packetsor something like that,
or they'll just tell them about itin a future appointment
if somebody needs connection or guidance.
So they connect,they help us connect patients.
But sometimes patients connect usto a Google search.
Right.

(55:52):
And they'll connect with us either
through the new patient programor through our Facebook group.
So they'll sign up if they were diagnosedwithin 3 or 4 months.
And then, you know, as I said, I meet upwith them and give them some resources.
If there's a family, you know,that's been type one for many years
and they need a little helping handwith a non pharmacy supply
and we have it or able to access itlike a spy belt or something.

(56:12):
There's broke.They can't afford a new one.
Spy belt actually.
They are belts that holds a younger kids
insulin pump for a phoneand especially good even for older kids.
For sports. Yes.
So football, soccer,whatever you can just clip.
And that way your family in, you know, inthe bleachers can still read your,
you know, read your blood sugar, but, youknow, it's not like, really interfering,

(56:36):
you know, because you can put it,like under your jersey or what?
I'm like, yeah, like under my shirt.
Like it's under like it's under my jersey.
Under there. Just like that. Right?
Yes. Actually, yeah.
From an event perspective, the events aretypically just for type ones.
We do have a few eventsevery year, you know, a handful
that are more community like,we might say, hey, basketball.
You know this prices for our typeone family.

(56:58):
But communityyou can come to you if you want to.
And here's the regular price for youbecause we won't subsidize
a non type one family.
But we do have a designer bike fundraiser.
Every year I try to get rid of it.
That just happened. Decidedwe missed that.
That was in May.
That was this Saturday. On Mother's Day.
And she's like, I'm doing this next year.Yeah, yeah.
So typically we did it in May this year.

(57:18):
Like the Mother's Day collaborationdidn't really work out.
So I think we're going to back itup to April. Yeah. Yeah.
It was justit was just tough with Mother's Day
and then end of school year stuffI feel like yeah, yeah.
So I think we're going to back itup to April next year.
But it's great. You know, at one pointI tried to get rid of it.
But like our community members love it.
It has become our annual fundraiser,the designer Bag bingo.

(57:39):
And each yearit's grown larger and larger.
This yearwe had close to about 200 participants.
We play bingo, ten games, it's ten
different designer bags,and we always have a larger bag as.
The the prize is the bag.
Yeah. This year we had a Gucci bag.
Last year I don't remember what the main,you know, but.

(58:00):
There's always a mean like. Louis.
Yeah. Well, what.
We're we're not we're not at Louis stageyet, but that's what we're working up to.
Remember?
I don't even. Knowwhere the volunteer will be.
You're on track, though.
That's that's where my mind is for nextyear.
Typically, you know.
So again, volunteer volunteering.
I don't have a ton of timeto go on and get bag sponsors.

(58:20):
So it's typicallyonce we see 40 or 50 people sign
up, we go out and start,you know, buying the bags for like,
you know, four bagsin case we get some sponsors.
But we haven't had a ton of time.
Nice. Yeah.
But that bag is sponsored by.
Yeah, that'swhat we're going to do next year.
We're going to go out to some businesses
and say,hey, we'll give you a table for four.
Do you want to sponsor a bag?So we're going to do more.
We're going to do more of that. Now.
Where was that hosted this year?

(58:42):
Yes, it was hosted at the VFWin New Brighton this year.
Typically we do host them at the SeniorCenter in West Hartford, though, as well.
I can walk.
Maybe there a few of them there, but wejust, we outgrew the space very quickly.
Yeah, yeah.
So then yeah.
So for the rest of the year,you know, from a fundraiser,
we did birdies, of course, just likeanybody switching wants to donate.

(59:03):
They can, we have a fundraising teamat the Hartford.
No, sorry. The West Hartford mitten run.
Oh, yeah. Nice. Yeah.
We're doing a fundraising team for that.
If people in the sense of not, they couldsign up through us for a $5 discount.
So we have that and we're going to doa 30 days of diabetes thing in November
where like those calendar fundraisers,you see, one of our volunteers is super

(59:25):
into doing somethinglike that. So I'm like,
you know, how about it?
You know, may, you know, may as well.So we're going to try that.
So we try things. Sometimes they work,sometimes they don't.
Then they're.
Exactly right.
And there you. Can't win them all.
Yeah I know so you try things but you knowanything that we do powers our growth.
You know we have a girl power program
where we run specific eventsjust for girls aged 6 to 16.

(59:48):
So everything that we do powers.
There's a picture on our Facebook page
of me coming out of Jo-Ann fabricsthat was closing, you know, recently
because I picked up every piece of fleecethat I could find, and now it's literally
falling on me in the car,falling on my head because we have a girl
power program that makes blanketsevery year in December.
So they make like they do a blanketand hot chocolate event, right?
That's powered by a volunteer. Becca.

(01:00:10):
Shout out to Becca! So Becca.
Yeah.
So Becca approached us last year
and wanted to work on a project,you know, specifically for our nonprofit.
And we decided on Girl power,
and she's really helped itgrow to the point
that the girls are always askingwhat's next? Right.
So they have a pool party in Augustand then,
you know, blanket making in Decemberand then maybe sometimes jewelry.

(01:00:30):
Yeah.
So we do something with themevery, every, every couple months.
But yeah.
I love it, I love it.
Well, 50 minutes with Fini.
We're at like 60 plus now. Wow.
And you were nervous about the. TimeI was.
I can't believe I'm friends with Feeney.
You podcast is an hour.
We can go. We can talk all day.
But again, you brought up the birdies.I'm going to the travelers.

(01:00:50):
Yeah, it ends June 22nd,so please sponsor the travelers.
I just got one today.
I want to thank Uncle Neil.
Donated 100 bucks and Bobdonate 100 bucks.
So thank you.
And a golf event.
We would love to give you a table.
Or if you wantto volunteer, September 13th.
It's at Tongue

(01:01:11):
Sisters, our fourth annual, Uncle Neil.
Just sign up for that, too.
So thanks again, Uncle Neil.
He's a golfer and he's very generous.
But we got game day.
Connor, heckle Hall, this isthe first place team scan right here.
Most tournaments aren't breakfast,lunch and dinner.
So you get breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We'll have a whiskey hall
sponsored by maximum beverage,long drink hole, a school of rock hall.

(01:01:33):
They play rock musicin the middle of your swing.
So please check it out and pleasejoin us.
That's for you. Actually,thank you for saying that.
Did you see my post on LinkedIn yesterday?
I'm like, I'm not a golfer, but if I was,I would golf at the Friends of Fini golf.
You did say that I did.
I love it and Matt liked it.
So you guys definitely saw it.
So remember you share that.But I love the swag.
I love the hat, the shirts. Great.

(01:01:54):
Great little logo.
Elbow bump kit incorporated.
I had so much fun talking with you.
I learned so much.
Please.
And get out and vote for the Red Sox.
Impact.
Award, impact. Award. Red sox.com/impact.
You got it.
Anything that I missed,any quick little shout outs?

(01:02:16):
Closing remarks.
Yeah, I would say if there's a typeone family that's listening to this or if,
you know a type one family
that is not connected with the community,please have them contact us.
So that way we can make surethat they're taking care of.
What's our Facebook.
Facebook.com slash elbow bumpkid or elbow bump
kid inc.org or Samanthaat elbow bump Kid Inc talk.
Yeah, and this was the Feeney TalksWith Friends podcast episode 142

(01:02:38):
here with my friends Sam and Sheila.
I had such a wonderful timetalking with you.
Please like and subscribe our podcast.
Pleasecheck out the Feeney Talks with Friends
podcast and Friends of Feeney Aecom.
And don't forget, our motto is to helpchildren and families that need assistance
after heartbreak or tragedy.And I use this podcast
and I talk to wonderful peoplethat are doing great things.

(01:02:59):
So on three, we're just going to saybe a good friend.
One, two, three be good friends.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode #142: Feeney Talks with Samantha Merwin and Shaleela Pina (ElbowBumpKid Inc.)

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

All Episodes

Episode #142: Feeney Talks with Samantha Merwin and Shaleela Pina (ElbowBumpKid Inc.)

Stuff You Should Know