Did you know that today there are more than a half- million adults in the state of Washington living with diabetes? And that by 2025 experts say this number will grow to nearly 1 million?  Neither did I.

To raise awareness around diabetes and celebrate the work that the American Diabetes Association, Benaroya Research Institute, Camp Leo, and several other organizations are doing in the Pacific NW, Novo Nordisk will hold an unprecedented event at the Pacific Science Center for World Diabetes Day (WDD) on Nov. 14, 2014.

WDD is a global campaign to spread awareness about the growing diabetes epidemic. Since 2007, iconic buildings and sites all over the world have been lit blue to unite for diabetes awareness on World Diabetes Day. In Seattle on this day, many building managers will be lighting their buildings blue.

The Seattle event at the Pacific Science Center will provide a profound opportunity to support those in our local community with diabetes and celebrate the astonishing research conducted locally that is making an immense difference worldwide. Here’s an overview of what to expect at WDD Seattle:

• The event will commence at 6:30 p.m., in the Professor Wellbody’s Academy of Health & Wellness at the Pacific Science Center with giveaways and music.
• Next, Gov. Jay Inslee will address the crowd, before we move outdoors to view the ceremonial lighting of the arches and march with Seahawks band Blue Thunder to the Experience Music Project (EMP). Throughout the event, Blitz the Seahawk will join us.
• The event will close with an interactive jump-roping activity and Zumba performance with Blitz, and the opportunity to win a signed Cliff Avril Seattle Seahawk jersey. The Cliff Avril Family Foundation is dedicated to encouraging healthy living through nutrition and exercise for youth, specifically those diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

In addition to securing the Seahawks’ support, Communiqué PR is working to ensure there is broad community awareness for World Diabetes Day Seattle. We have secured calendar listings of the event on a variety of websites, including the following:

• 425 Magazine
• Auburn Reporter
• Bellevue Reporter
• Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
• Courier-Herald Newspaper
• Kent Reporter
• Kitsap Sun
• Lake Stevens Journal
• Marysville-Globe/Arlington Times
• My Ballard
• Peninsula-Getaway
• Redmond Reporter
• Seattle P.I.

Stay tuned for more articles and broadcast coverage later this week or early next week.

Communiqué PR’s Christy Melby also created a Facebook page with complete event information about World Diabetes Day. If you have a minute, we hope you will visit our page and like us. You can RSVP your attendance here.

And finally there is Twitter, where we have been busy promoting WDD Seattle from our handle @WDDSeattle. We have had fun engaging with journalists and business leaders, including KING 5’s Dennis Bounds, Seattle Seahawk superstar Richard Sherman, and John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, among many others.

We hope to see you on Nov. 14 at the Pacific Science Center, where showing up means showing support.