BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team participated in the American Diabetes Association’s signature fundraising event Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes on Saturday morning.
After socializing with fans of all ages, the Tigers, led by head coach Trent Johnson, began the two-mile walk for the second straight year at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
The LSU men’s basketball team prides themselves on giving back to the community, making time before a scheduled morning workout to lend a helping hand.
“These guys understand the impact they have on the community as student-athletes and their ability to give,” head coach Trent Johnson said. “Whether it is diabetes, cancer or some other type of major illness, we have all been affected by these diseases at some point and time in our lives. I personally lost a mother-in-law to diabetes, so to be able to give back and raise awareness is something that is very important to me.”
Founded in 1940, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a non-profit organization that leads the fight against the deadly consequences of diabetes. Its mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by the disease.
With 130 Step Out events held annually around the country, the ADA strives to spread awareness on all types of diabetes as well as how to maintain a healthy lifestyle while living with diabetes. The event has raised over $20 million for the ADA with the ultimate goal of one day finding a cure and ending the devastating toll that diabetes takes on millions of individuals and their families across the nation.