About Zip the Cure:

My name is Monica Oxenreiter.  I am fifteen years old and live in Pittsburgh, PA.  I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was thirteen months old. Three years later, my older brother John was diagnosed with the disease, when he was only eight. I am currently a sophomore in high school. My older brother is a sophomore in college, at Columbia University in New York City.

My entire family has been involved with JDRF ever since I was diagnosed with diabetes. We wanted to help raise money for a cure, as well as raise awareness. In 2005, both John and I were Pennsylvania delegates for JDRF Children’s Congress.

We wanted to do even more for JDRF, though. I thought of a new way to raise money, on a national level. I pitched the idea to JDRF, and we were approved as a third-party fundraiser.  So here we are, curing diabetes one zip code at a time!

We will begin our campaign to raise $4.2 million for JDRF on November 14, 2009.  This is also World Diabetes Day.  Zip the Cure is run by many volunteers from all over the nation. Our volunteers are dedicated to raising money and awareness to fund a cure for diabetes. We have no paid staff.  All proceeds raised by Zip the Cure will go directly to JDRF, to fund research. Zip the Cure is an independent, 501(C) organization.  We are proud to be authorized by JDRF as a third party fundraiser.  JDRF's mission is to find a cure for juvenile diabetes and its complications.  Hopefully, what we do here will speed up the cure.  

Monica Oxenreiter, age 15

Pittsburgh, PA