Geneva resident Mary Agnes Zellmer is a finalist in a Midwest program called “Our Town, Our Heroes,” sponsored by General Motors.

I nominated Mary Agnes and consider her a hero for her work raising money for research into juvenile diabetes, especially through Pumpkins for a Cure, an event held in downtown Geneva in October for the past six years. The event’s motto is “Selling Pumpkins With a Purpose” – and in this case, that purpose is type I diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes.

When Mary Agnes’ son Jim was six years old, he was diagnosed with diabetes. When he learned he would need to take insulin shots for the rest of his life, he turned to his parents with tears in his eyes and said, “Mommy, fix this.”

Jim’s grandparents have a farm in Iowa, and he came up with the idea of growing pumpkins and gourds on the farm and selling them to raise money for diabetes research. The family first started selling the pumpkins in their Mill Creek frontyard, but had to move to the Geneva subdivision’s golf course to find more space. The family raised more than $6,000 that first year.

The event has grown every year, and has raised nearly $250,000 for diabetes research.

This year, it will be held Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 in downtown Geneva, and the money raised will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation as well as the University of Illinois at Chicago, where some groundbreaking diabetes research is being done.

Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes, including as many as 3 million who have type I diabetes, which usually strikes in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood and lasts a lifetime.

If you ever get a chance to talk to Mary Agnes, you’ll find how passionate she is about finding a cure for diabetes – something she believes could happen before her son is 25 years old – but only if researchers have the resources.

And that’s vital, because according to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes is the 5th cause of death in the United States today, and for every $10 spent in the U.S. on health care, $1 of it is spend on diabetes-related complications. On average, diabetic children get 3,600 needle sticks each year.

In my nomination of Mary Agnes, I noted that I find her so inspiration because she took something terrible – her son’s diagnosis – and turned it around in the most positive of ways to help not only raise money for a cure, but let other families know they are not alone.

If Mary Agnes is the top vote-getter in the “Our Town, Our Heroes” program, she would receive a one-week loan of an all-new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle with a full tank of gas. (The nominator receives one, too, but I promise I didn’t know that when I nominated her!)

Much, much better than the car, of course, is the attention that will be paid to Pumpkins for a Cure, a great event that allows families to have a wonderful time while raising money for a truly important cause. So make sure to mark your calendar now to attend Oct. 1 and 2.

If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate your vote for Mary Agnes. You can do so by following this link to GM’s “Driving the Midwest” page: http://drivingthemidwest.com/meet-the-our-town-our-heroes-finalists/

General Motors launched the “Our Town, Our Heroes” program to support and reward local heroes who are inspiring and empowering others in their communities. Every two weeks, the program will narrow down the nominations, and enable the public to choose the winner by voting for the featured finalists.

Tara Burghart, of Geneva, is a former journalist turned stay-at-home mom. She is the founder of a blog called Go West Young Mom that seeks to help young families enjoy all that the far western suburbs has to offer by highlighting special events, places, people and businesses.

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