American Diabetes Month is a time to communicate the seriousness of diabetes and the importance of proper diabetes control.  This year, ADM focuses on the deadly complications of diabetes.

In Effingham County alone, over 3,200 people have diabetes. Leaders in Effingham County have organized free literature giveaways and free screenings throughout the month of November to draw attention to this serious and deadly disease.
Effingham Hospital will do free blood glucose screenings every Thursday morning in November from 8-10 a.m. in the hospital lobby. Testing is important because the statistics are devastating.

Nationwide, 23.6 million people, 7.8 percent of the population, have diabetes. Over 5.7 million of these people don’t know they have it. If current trends continue, one out of three Americans born today will develop diabetes.

The Effingham County Kiss-a-Pig Campaign Team, part of the leadership organizing activities such as American Diabetes Month, will be holding its first fundraiser in the quest to have Effingham County resident, Troy Alford, kiss a pig in May at the end of the campaign.  Pigs are honored by American Diabetes Association as the original source of insulin.

The event, a Halloween costume contest for children under 12 will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Domino’s Pizza parking lot on Highway 21 in Rincon. The day of event registration is $5 and contestants must be registered by 12:45 p.m.

Pizza will be sold by the slice and prizes will be awarded for first and second place for categories such as cutest, most original, scariest, etc.

For more information on the Halloween Costume contest, call Michelle Brinson or Tammy Donovan at 826-4286 or 547-5918.