To date, the Yellow Rose Foundation (YRF) has partnered with three separate organizations. The primary beneficiary to date is the Diabetic Youth Foundation (DYF) based in Concord, California. The DYF offers year-round programs to children, teenagers, and families living with or affected by type 1 diabetes. The largest program that the DYF conducts is a youth summer camp in the southern Sierras called Bearskin Meadow Camp. Last year, the DYF offered services to 1700 children, teens and families, and is considered one of the finest organizations of its type in the country.
"By hiring a full time social worker, due to the financial support of the Yellow Rose Foundation, the Diabetic Youth Foundation has been able to greatly enhance all of our programs, including our residential camp program at Bearskin Meadow Camp. We now have the ability to allow more children and teens to attend our programs that present with behavioral or social problems knowing that their psycho-social needs will be met while under our care. Most often, this allows these children and teens to successfully complete the programs in which they enroll. In addition, we are now able to offer family counseling at camp, which has allowed the DYF to help our families work through the many psycho-social challenges facing families affected by type 1 diabetes."
Mats Wallin
Executive Director, Diabetic Youth Foundation
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The Yellow Rose Foundation branched out in 2007 by partnering with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to help fund a specific area of research: The Artificial Pancreas. Although the artificial pancreas is not considered a cure to type 1 diabetes, it is recognized as one of the most promising technologies on the horizon today for type 1 diabetics. The clinical trials on the artificial pancreas show excellent promise and its availability in mainstream treatment settings for type 1 diabetes is imminent.
Also in 2007, the YRF distributed funds to Camp Needlepoint, a small camp for youth with type 1 diabetes, located in the community of Hudson, Wisconsin. Camp Needlepoint serves 400 children per summer from both Minnesota and Wisconsin, and it is in its 51st year of offering services and recreation to type 1 diabetic youth.