The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International has named Mary Kaye Huntsman to its international board of directors.
Until recently, Huntsman was a member of the board for the Utah chapter of the organization. On the international board, she will take the place of her husband, Jon M. Huntsman Jr. One of their six children, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes in 1997.
After the diagnosis, Mary Kaye Huntsman and Elizabeth developed and underwrote a national program called the Bag of Hope, which is now sponsored by Bayer and is designed to help newly diagnosed children and their parents cope with the disease. In the program, special gift bags are distributed to children and their families through the foundation's chapters. Each bag includes an assortment of materials, including the Rufus Bear (a teddy that "has diabetes"), a video for children, a Glucometer DEX System to test blood sugar level, books about diabetes, a coloring book written and published by Elizabeth, a daily organizer and other items.
For more information on the foundation or the disease, visit the Web site at www.jdrf.org or call 1-801-530-0660.