FAMU Partners with the Prince Hall Shriners Foundation to Host Annual Diabetes Classic

FAMU Partners with the Prince Hall Shriners

Foundation to Host  Annual Diabetes Classic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida A&M University (FAMU) signed an agreement with the Prince Hall Shriners Foundation (PHSF) to host the 3^rd Annual Diabetes Classic. The Classic is scheduled for Saturday, October 1, which will feature a weekend of activities including a golf tournament, parade, health screenings and seminars and the football game between FAMU and Delaware State University.

“Florida A&M University is pleased to partner with the Prince Hall Shriners Foundation for the third Annual Diabetes Classic,” said James H. Ammons, president of FAMU. “I am confident that this will be a successful partnership as we support a great cause.”

The Classic is designed to bring awareness to the community about diabetes and raise funds for not only diabetes but for FAMU’s athletics department.

“This is more than a game,” said Derek Horne, director of FAMU Athletics. “There are going to be educational opportunities as well.”

The Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine of North and South America and its Jurisdictions, Inc. (AEAONMS) [also known as Prince Hall Shriners] organization was founded more than 117 years ago and is a social, fraternal and charitable organization. The organization consists of more than 200 temples (chapters) around the world with a membership of approximately 18,000 and growing.

In 2009, in response to this growing crisis, the AEAONMS formed a philanthropic partnership with the American Diabetes Association and launched the National Diabetes Initiative (NDI).  The primary goals of the NDI are to promote public awareness and education of diabetes and its associated complications; to raise funds for research and education related to the disease; and to increase visibility of the Prince Hall Shriners by rallying around a single public health issue. The inaugural Prince Hall Shriners Foundation Diabetes Classic weekend was held in October 2009 at Albany State University.

“Diabetes is very personal to me,” said Oliver Washington Jr., president of the Prince Hall Shriners Foundation and chairman of the Prince Hall Shriners Diabetes Football Classic.  “I have dedicated my life completely to diabetes. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4 a.m. I wake up and take my wife to the clinic.  My wife is not obese nor does the history of diabetes run in her family.  We hear that individuals get diabetes because of family history, but that is not true.  We have to have a new conversation about people of color and diabetes.  If we don’t do anything about it, by 2025 the total of people with diabetes will make up the population of 17 states in the U.S.”

Photo caption: FAMU President James H. Ammons (left) passes the agreement that was signed for FAMU to host the 3rd Annual Diabetes Classic to Oliver Washington Jr., president of the Prince Hall Shriners Foundation and chairman of the Prince Hall Shriners Diabetes Football Classic.