A 9-year old Massachusetts boy with Type 1 diabetes is taking a novel approach to raising awareness for the disease. Noah Brokmeier, who goes by the nickname ‘The Diabetes Dude’, uses plastic blue flamingos to spread the word, according to an article on the Turnto10 website.
While no one is looking, Noah sneaks onto one of his neighbors’ front lawn and places a blue flamingo there. The flamingos are blue because that is the color associated with Type 1 diabetes awareness. Attached to each flamingo is a letter explaining Noah’s mission.
Noah, who was diagnosed with the disease two and a half years ago and wears an insulin pump, says each of the flamingos has a name that starts with “D,” such as Duncan. He encourages people to take a picture with the visiting flamingo so that he can post it on his website www.thediabetesdude.com.
Noah and his family usually retrieve each flamingo the next day, but some recipients of the fake birds can pass them along to others. Noah tracks the location of the flamingos on his website and ultimately wants one blue bird in each of the 50 states in the United States.
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[...] Noah also made headlines when he started a fundraising campaign to raise money for the ADA called the “flamingo flock,” which involves placing random plastic blue flamingos on neighbors’ laws along with a note in order to raise awareness. His campaign is now going national with help of friends, family and fans. (See ‘Diabetic Dude’ Uses Blue Flamingos to Raise Awareness) [...]