Tuesday, December 4, 2007

No Wonder


Yesterday, I had my last day off of work (besides Christmas) before the end of the year. It was full of errands, and stuff on my "to do" list that I obviously haven't done. One of those things included a trip to the local JDRF office.

You see, I'd been carrying a donation check around with me for awhile. Everyday I said to myself, "I'll mail it tomorrow..." Well, I knew they wanted them all by the 4th (today), so it seemed like the perfect solution to just drive it there while doing all of my errands. However, now I'd wish I mailed it.

No wonder the JDRF walk was poorly coordinated. No wonder, I had trouble getting info from them. No wonder, I couldn't get them to return a call. It broke my heart to see this local hub of such a great organization.

First of all, I had trouble finding it. It is located in a mass of cookie cutter office buildings, that look more like trailers at overcrowded schools. When you enter the side of the building it is a long walk down one hallway, to the only decorated door of the bunch. The office is located behind a locked door, I was told was "for security reasons" I.E. "Stalker". The office consisted of only two small cubicles.

I was greeted by two very sweet and pleasant insividuals. They asked me questions, and thought like most people that I was still in high school. When I explained my age, they told me about how many young adults they were encountering who were newly diagnosed. I thought about asking about developing some sort of support group, but it seemed like those two people had the world on their shoulders and could handle any more. Turns out my doctor is on their board, and we chatted about him. When they found out I was a graphic artist, they promptly enlisted my services, to which I am more than happy to help. She kept saying, "Now, I'm really going to call you, so if you're being nice..."

I left there feeling saddened for the tiny little office and staff. All I want to do is help in some way. It was obvious from the shere fact that crucial details about the walk were left out. We weren't even notified about schedules and walk times (or even that breakfast and lunch would be served) until the night before the walk. The event itself was very nice, but we were all a little disappointed by the planning. No wonder.....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mandy.

No doubt a small office hidden among many others costs a lot less to rent than a larger complex on a corner of a busy intersection. The unfortunate trade-off is in the loss of exposure to heavy traffic.

Maybe your skills as a graphic artist can help your local chapter the next time a pamphlet or informational flyer needs to be created. As a diabetic, you know exactly what information should be included in such publications, so you could certainly clear up any problems involving missing info.

I admire you for wanting to help in some way, and it sounds like the two nice folks you met would be happy to have your input.