The Grand River pedestrian bridge will light up blue once again this November in honour of Diabetes Awareness Month.
Fergus was involved in the Bring Diabetes to Light campaign for the first time last year.
This year, organizer Brian Martin said the railings surrounding the bridge will be covered in blue Christmas lights until the end of November.
“Hopefully we can make a small impact on a big problem,” Martin said. “If we get people thinking about it, talking about it, that’s better than any money we could raise.”
The lights will be turned on for the first time on Nov. 14, World Diabetes Day. The public is invited to head to the pedestrian bridge behind the Fergus library to be part of the Bring Diabetes to Light campaign at 6pm on Nov. 14.
There will be handouts and information available at the lighting event.
“It’s just showing the different … facts and figures on diabetes like the cost of treating diabetes,” Martin said. “Like everyone thinks you take a needle, big deal, OHIP covers it. Not all of it. There’s an awful lot of costs going on.”
According to Diabetes Canada, one in three Canadians (11 million people) have diabetes or prediabetes and a Canadian is diagnosed with diabetes every three minutes.
In additional to the blue light event Martin said the Fergus Lions will be running a Diabetes Awareness Day on Nov. 18, with all the fundraising proceeds going to Diabetes Canada.
“We would like people to toss in a toonie and sponsor a light bulb on the bridge,” Martin said.
The Lions will be collecting donations in Fergus at FreshCo, the New to You shop and the foyer of the Royal Bank with more locations possibly coming up before Nov. 18.
