Without a doubt one of the most beloved animated characters of all time is Mickey Mouse; and I think on that we can all agree. I have stated it before, and it is worth repeating, that Lily Diabetes and Disney teaming up to create an actual Disney character with diabetes is one of the most incredible partnerships I have ever seen.
Mickey’s friend, Coco, has diabetes……kids do not feel so alone!!!!! Cool, right?
I have written about it before but it’s important enough to repeat especially now that Coco is becoming quite active with “going to school” and doing “sleep-overs” and stuff.
The diabetes community has always, and continues, to look for GREAT spokespeople to educate others about diabetes. Well there is one in our own back yard and we should take advantage of it. And it is one Mickey Mouse and his friend Coco.
We, in the diabetes community, are always looking for ways to educate the public and always are looking for ways to help. People, many times, share with me their limited resources. They cannot be fund-raisers for a cause or have a huge outreach, here is something that is simple and could truly have an impact educating others.
What if we could figure out a day, a national day, that could be for reading. I know they exist and I know the NEA’s Read Across America happens each year, and there are others also; not to mention Diabetes Month and Diabetes Alert Day in March.. Why not grab one of those great collaborative books of Coco and Mickey Mouse….and offer to read it to your child’s school or in a library. How cool would it be if all across America the diabetes community was reading one of these books to children on the same day or in the same week/month?
The question always arises, if we had a celebrity……what would we do with them????? Who is a bigger celeb than Mickey Mouse for goodness sakes? Well now you know. Take Mickey and Coco into the classroom, your child’s classroom. Read about diabetes……talk about diabetes.
There is plenty of time to set it up, but I wanted to get your thoughts. What do you think? I’m truly interested in your feedback. Kindly reply to this, and not just on the FB page where you saw this, but here on the post so everyone can read what others think. We have a celebrity here in the diabetes community…….let’s put him, and Coco, to work!!!!
Thoughts?
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5 replies on “A Diabetes Celebrity Right in Our Hands……..Let’s Put Him to Work!”
This is exciting to learn. Not sure how long it would have taken me to learn of Coco if not for your headsup. My interest (concern is too strong a word) is to understand where Coco and Mickey get their script. I’d hate to see Mickey saying things to his friend that are outdated or don’t make sense like, “You can’t eat that”. Maybe they should retain you as the Mouth of Mickey 🙂
Kevin…..Lily Diabetes is very much involved in the book’s stories with their line of health professionals.
I love this idea! It would be great if it could be a true partnership… not just Disney allowing us to use Mickey Mouse, but them actively putting Coco and his diabetes into storylines that they use.
I think its a great idea to get kids educated about it.
I think Usher would be the perfect partnership celebarity. I also think working from November 14th would be the perfect day. I would take my book club to a neighboring elementary and let them read a book as a service learning project in a heartbeat and I think my kids would love to do it as they see me and my struggles for my daughter and how the village can help.