After being postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown, the Gurino Family Annual Cigar Party, hosted by brothers Anthony and Angelo Gurino with Joseph Muré, continued its fall tradition this year at the North Hills Country Club.
The Cigar Party, a grassroots effort by the Gurino family to raise money to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), has grown from a small backyard gathering into a popular and well-attended event at a Manhasset Country Club. This year, there were more than 600 guests.
The event is always an enjoyable evening for family, friends, neighbors, and business associates of the Gurino and Muré families. It marks the unofficial end of summer with cigars, cognac, and good food. However, its real mission is to raise money for JDRF, which is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas stops producing insulin. The disease can strike suddenly in both children and adults, leaving them to constantly manage their blood-sugar levels via injection or pump.
JDRF states that its “strength lies in [its] exclusive focus on the worldwide effort to end T1D and the power of [its] volunteers.” The Gurino and Muré families are just a handful of those dedicated volunteers whose fundraising efforts for JDRF have contributed to the support of T1D research. Last year alone, $506 million was invested in T1D research, thanks to organizations such as JDRF, governments, and industry partnerships.
The research goals of JDRF are to “eradicate T1D by restoring the body’s ability to make insulin and stop T1D before it occurs” and “keep people with T1D as healthy as possible until a cure is found by advancing new T1D resources, technologies, and therapies.”
One recent advance in T1D management is the hybrid closed loop (HCL) system, which combines the technology of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices with that of insulin pumps to simplify and improve diabetes management. The integrated system enables users to increase the amount of time that they spend in target glucose range (“time-in-range”), both during the day and throughout the night. By maintaining better control of their blood sugar, people living with T1D can limit or avoid the progressive problems that often accompany the disease. FDA-approved devices for HCL systems are already in use, with more clinical trials in progress for additional systems.
The event raised more than $150,000 through the generosity of the guests and the event’s sponsors. The Gurino and Muré families continue to be grateful to the ever-growing circle of fundraising support for JDRF. More information about JDRF can be found at www.JDRF.org.
—Submitted by Lorraine Mesagna
