CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings host volunteers for American Diabetes Association

Published on February 9, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, Miss.—The American Diabetes Association (ADA) will recognize two people who are kings among their corps of volunteers from Kroger food stores and pharmacies during at the Memphis RiverKings hockey game when they face the Indianapolis Ice at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 10.

Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) company, Clear Channel Communications and the RiverKings are providing an evening out for employees of Kroger stores on behalf of ADA. ABC 24 and UPN 30 evening news anchor Dee Griffin will be on hand for the event, along with Bill Platten, Vice-president of Operations for the Kroger Delta Marketing Area. Griffin served as 2003-2004 celebrity spokesperson for the regional "America's Walk for Diabetes."

About 400 Kroger employees participated in the Walk this past September, raising $55,000 for ADA. Platten's eldest daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three years ago, which prompted his involvement with ADA. Soon, Platten had started and organized the local Kroger team, which has since become one of the top five teams in America.

Platten started the Mid-South School Walks for Diabetes, which raised $25,000 in its first year. As Walk chairman in 2001, he increased the funds raised from $78,000 to $108,000 in one year. In June 2003 Platten was selected from 187 submissions as one of 11 recipients of the National "Cure, Care, Commitment" Awards for the Raising Funds category.

"My personal goal is to put the American Diabetes Association out of business by finding a cure for diabetes," Platten said.

RiverKings Community Relations director Michael Rice said ‘Kings staff are excited about hosting the group at the game.

"It's very important to not only create awareness for the disease—it affects so many people and yet, there are many more out there who don't even know they have it—but we're also helping reward those who have done so much for others," Rice said. "People deserve recognition for the good things they've done."

Diabetes is a disease characterized by the body's inability either to produce insulin or to use insulin properly to control blood glucose, or "sugar" levels. When out of control as a result of diabetes, blood sugar can act as a poison in the body. The damage most often caused is damage to the nerves and blood vessels, which can result in blindness, heart attack, stroke and limb amputation.

Based on studies by the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Health and the American Diabetes Association, in this Memphis area alone, there are about 100,000 people with diabetes. Of those, 25 to 30 percent do not know they have it.

Recent years have seen a sharp increase of Type 2 diabetes in children, whose onset can be aggravated by inactivity, improper eating habits and obesity. In addition, the Greater Memphis/North Mississippi area is the number 10 market in the nation for African Americans affected by diabetes.

"Persons diagnosed with diabetes nationwide is up," said Jessica Hoffman, area manager of the West Tennessee Area of the American Diabetes Association.. "We have more and more people affected by it. It's getting to the point where the disease is significantly affecting health care costs and the way of life of a nation."

Hoffman said that in addition to the high costs of diagnosing, maintaining and controlling the disease, people are incurring large one-time health care costs, as people with diabetes are more prone to heart attack and stroke in addition to blindness and limb amputation.

Face-off for the game will be 7:05 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10. For more information or tickets, call the RiverKings office at 662-342-1755. To find out more about the American Diabetes Association, call 901-682-8232 or 888-DIABETES.

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2004


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