Sequent gets walk off on the right foot

Former Sequent Energy Management President Doug Schantz was off to a great start in his new role as the 2009 Gulf Coast Area corporate chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Houston Walk.  Sequent hosted the Walk to Cure Diabetes reception on May 14 to recruit corporate sponsors and walk teams.
 
“We are setting the bar high, and we won’t rest until we have reached our $1.28 million goal,” said Doug, who also announced that Sequent and AGL Resources will be the Platinum Sponsors of the walk.
 
With a theme of “Blast off to a Cure,” the walk is sure to have good weather with the announcement of local meteorologist Anthony Yanez of KPRC-TV as the master of ceremonies.
 
Marshall Lang, vice president of origination, Sequent, was recently elected to the board of directors of the Houston Gulf Coast chapter of the JDRF. During the reception, Marshall shared the story of his son Ethan, who was diagnosed at 2 with juvenile diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing the hormone insulin. Type 1 diabetes usually strikes in childhood but lasts a lifetime. People with type 1 diabetes must take multiple injections of insulin daily or continually infuse insulin through a pump just to survive. 
 
As one of the premier fundraising events in Houston, the 2008 Walk to Cure Diabetes attracted more than 8,000 participants who raised more than $1.1 million.  This year’s walk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26, at Reliant Park.
 
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation directs its resources to research aimed at finding a cure as soon as possible.  More than 85 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education.

Pictured left to right:
Anthony Yanez, KPRC-TV Meteorologist
Carol Tomko, Sequent Energy Management Facilities & Events Coordinator