Food Fare family fundraising for diabetes

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This article was published 17/04/2014 (4557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg family has teamed up with the Manitoba/Nunavut region of the Canadian Diabetes Association in the fight against diabetes.

The CDA’s latest fundraising initiative is the Blue Circle Campaign. The Zeid family, which owns five Food Fare locations in Winnipeg, has partnered up with the CDA to sell blue circles at its stores for $2 during the month of April, but customers can pay more if they want. Each of the five Food Fare stores were given 500 blue circles for customers to purchase. Customers can then write their name, and a note about someone they know who has diabetes, on their purchased circle, which is placed on a wall in the store.

“The money raised will go back to the Canadian Diabetes Association,” said Andrea Kwasnicki, the regional director of the Manitoba/Nunavut chapter of the CDA. “At this time, (Food Fare) is the only store that is doing it this month.”

The Zeid family jumped on board with the campaign because Moe Zeid, one of the owners, has Type 2 diabetes.

“We have to help each other. It doesn’t matter if I have it or don’t have it. We have to help each other as humans,” Zeid said.

Diagnosed about 22 years ago, Zeid said he found out he was diabetic while he was on vacation for a wedding.

“I took a suit with me and it was a little tight,” Zeid said. “I drank a lot of water and went to the bathroom a lot. When the wedding started, I was two to three inches bigger.”

Kwasnicki said the money raised from the Blue Circle Campaign goes towards the CDA programs and services.

“We run a camp for kids with Type 1 diabetes. We send 90 children to a diabetes camp every year,” Kwasnicki said. “We do public education in the community, as well as providing workplace initiatives such as risk assessment.”

Blue circles can be purchased at the following five Food Fare locations: 2285 Portage Ave., 905 Portage Ave., 247 Lilac St., 115 Maryland St., and 839 Cavalier Dr.

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