Bringing Holiday Joy to Colorado Families Living with Type 1 Diabetes
The Children’s Diabetes Foundation’s Holiday Assistance program helps families make room for celebration during an already demanding time of year
Photos Courtesy of Jensen Sutta | Children’s Diabetes Foundation
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For many families, the holidays mean gathering around the table, watching children open presents, and making memories through familiar traditions. But for families navigating type 1 diabetes (T1D), the season can bring added financial stress. Alongside holiday expenses are the ongoing costs of insulin, diabetes supplies, and medical care. For people living with T1D, insulin is not optional; it is essential to survival. Yet the cost of managing the disease can place a significant financial burden on families, leaving less room in the budget for everyday needs and holiday traditions. For parents, those choices can be especially difficult when all they want is to make the season special for their children.
The Children’s Diabetes Foundation’s Holiday Assistance program helps ease some of that burden for families receiving care at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes (BDC) in Aurora. The program provides assistance for holiday meals, while children with T1D and their siblings receive gifts, helping families take part in traditions that bring them together.
Making the Holidays a Little Brighter
Type 1 diabetes requires constant attention, from managing insulin and medical supplies to navigating appointments and daily care. For families already struggling to cover basic expenses, holiday costs can add another layer of pressure.
Holiday Assistance recognizes that supporting families means looking beyond medical care. Children living with T1D still look forward to the holidays, and parents deserve the chance to create joyful memories without carrying every financial worry alone.
Help with a holiday meal can mean one less expense competing with essential bills. A gift can give a child something to look forward to and allow siblings to share in the excitement. These gestures may seem simple, but for families facing difficult financial choices, they can make a meaningful difference.
Community Support with a Personal Impact
For social workers who work closely with these families, this support is an opportunity to ease financial pressures and help families make space for the traditions their children look forward to each year.
Ellen Fay-Itzkowitz, LCSW, CDCES, a clinical social worker at the BDC, shares why this work matters:
“As a clinical social worker, it is in my professional code of ethics to advocate for the underserved. Nothing brings me greater satisfaction and pride than working with an organization that shares that mission: the Children’s Diabetes Foundation. While I advocate for our families, CDF delivers in a thousand different ways. Offering the BDC’s most underserved families financial and gift assistance for the holidays is one of the most loving and kind things that CDF does. It’s incredible!”
A holiday meal shared around the table or a gift waiting to be opened can mean more than a single moment of happiness. Through Holiday Assistance, CDF helps families focus less on financial worries and more on being together, reminding them that they are not alone.
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