Talking with Monica Oxenreiter, you have to remind yourself that she is only a sophomore in high school. The confidence in her voice and the wisdom in her words suggest she's far older. Perhaps her battle with juvenile diabetes, which began when she was just a baby, has given her a strength and poise that most teenagers have yet to develop.
This month, with encouragement from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Monica is launching a nonprofit organization called
Zip the Cure. Her idea is wonderfully simple: If the people in each zip code across the country gave just $100, a total of $4.2 million would be raised for diabetes research. That modest goal -- getting entire communities to raise just $100 -- could create a windfall large enough to make real progress in fighting a disease that is striking a growing number of children across the country.
The idea came to Monica after discussions with her brother, who was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 8 years old.
"In 2005, my brother and I were both delegates for the Children's
Congress. While we were there, we met a ton of people that were so
dedicated to finding a cure," she says. "We met people from all over the U.S.and
we wanted to find a way that everyone could work together."
Being a high school student, Monica can't travel the country to motivate people to participate in Zip the Cure. So she's begun recruiting others to serve as "
state captains," working in their regions to gather donations. Although many state captains are high school students, the jobs are open to anyone with a connection to juvenile diabetes.
Zip the Cure is "officially kicking off on Nov. 14," Monica tells Pop City, "because that's National Diabetes Day." Beginning that day, people across the country can visit Zip the Cure online and
pledge money for a given zip code. (Be patient if you visit early -- tech issues are still being worked out.)
Writer: Melissa Rayworth
Source: Monica Oxenreiter
Image courtesy of Zip the Cure