Community Star of the Week: Jesse Lebolt

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One week after his Bar Mitzvah, just under two years ago, Jesse Lebolt's world was turned upside down upon receiving a diagnosis for Type 1 diabetes (T1D). While Jesse has learned how to manage the demanding struggles of the disease, he hasn't let it impact his passions or zest for being a kid. But he's also been motivated to find ways to spread awareness and has raised $24,000 over the last two years with the nonprofit organization, JDRF, in hopes of supporting the research and technologies that he knows are beneficial in managing T1D.

"He was motivated to try and raise money for a cure for all of the millions of kids like him who have it," Jesse's father, David Lebolt said. "There's so many advancements with technology that have come around to make having Type 1 diabetes more manageable. JDRF has funded a lot of the research that went into making these technologies, so Jesse wanted to help support that."
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The Lebolt family, who are avid Islanders fans and attended the last home came at NYCB Live prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, has spent the last two years participating in JDRF's annual fundraising walk. This year, with the COVID-19 outbreak, the walk was held virtually, but Jesse was still able to raise $7,491.
"Last year, his team was called, 'Jesse's Flock of Sugarbirds' because he's a big birder," David said. "We all participated in the walk last year and raised a lot of money. This year, they didn't have the walk because of the pandemic, they had everybody do individual walks. So, we had different groups of individuals and in our neighborhood go out walking. We collectively walked over 300 miles and raised a bunch more money. It's a great way to create awareness and to have a hand in helping."
During normal circumstances, Jesse would also be meeting in-person with a support group with other kids who have been diagnosed with T1D through JDRF. As a whole, the group creates projects to spread awareness and offers an outlet for the kids to share their struggles and triumphs.

"The organization does a great job of raising awareness for other people who don't fully understand what having Type 1 diabetes entails," David said of JDRF. "We certainly didn't know really what Type 1 diabetes was, what it's like living with it and what it's like for kids at school. It's helpful for their peers to understand what it's all about. This organization does a great job of educating the public on what Type 1 diabetes even is and providing resources for kids like Jesse, who are learning how to live with it."
While Jesse's days include constant monitoring of his blood sugar levels and careful examining of the nutrition he consumes, he still lives a normal, busy, life of a teenage boy. He's a cross country runner and member of the Science Olympiad team with a concentration in Ornithology at Syosset High School.
"It really is a daily struggle," David said. "Every day he has to constantly be on top of his blood sugars. There's not a minute of the day or night where he can ignore this disease, but he has managed to stay a generally happy kid and still do all of the fun things he usually does. He runs cross country, which is challenging with Type 1 diabetes. He does all of these other extracurricular things in school. We're very impressed and proud of him for not letting this diagnosis] derail all of the things that he's passionate about."
To donate or learn more about Jesse, visit his page
[Jesse's Flock of Sugarbirds team with JDRF. 
For more information on T1D and the initiatives from JDRF visit their website:
https://www.jdrf.org/