‘Ford Is In It For The Long Haul’: Employees Unite to Help Fight Type 1 Diabetes

Ashley Karsten recalls feeling lethargic and not feeling well as a child in the mid-1990s. The 10-year-old’s water consumption had also increased significantly. Her family assumed her body was responding to some kind of virus or infection, but days later, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). 

Doctors and staff taught her parents what to do to care for their daughter and coached them all on diet changes. That’s when they were also introduced to Breakthrough T1D, formerly known as JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), a worldwide leader in Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy – and one of Ford’s largest charitable beneficiaries. 

The organization helped Ashley Karsten and her family through their medical journey. She recalls her parents were nervous, but that they found a community and resources for her care and management, which offered some relief. At 14 years old, she was one of the youngest recipients of an insulin pump in the state of Michigan, which Breakthrough T1D helped facilitate. Today, she is a busy mother of two daughters, Ella, 14, and Molly, 8.

“I’m a very healthy adult who was able to have two healthy pregnancies and children,” said Karsten, now 38, noting that she is thankful she learned how to manage her diabetes at a young age. “There’s a lifetime of issues that can happen if you’re not managing your diabetes properly and I don’t know if I would’ve been able to have kids…The fact that I’m living a pretty normal life, and I don’t have to take any other medicines besides insulin, can be credited to the support of Breakthrough T1D.”

Taking action for T1D

Ashley’s father, Eric Karsten, would later come to work at Ford. Today, he is director of engineering for Ford Pro and the Enterprise Technology lead for Breakthrough T1D. Forever thankful for the organization’s support, Eric Karsten has been involved with the Ford Global Action Team since 2004, a year after joining Ford. Since then, he has participated in various fundraising activities, including selling paper shoes, organizing golf outings, motorcycle rides, a Texas Hold ‘em tournament, and a Pinewood Derby event. 

“Their support revolutionized my daughter’s ability to kind of have a real life (and) do things that normal kids would do while she was in high school,” Eric Karsten said, adding thanks to those he has worked with to raise funds for Breakthrough T1D. “Those types of innovations come from the money that we raise, and to me, it's huge. It has a personal impact on the families who have kids and are going through Type 1 diabetes.”

Helping others, and making friends

Drita Ljaljevic, a quality engineer and process lead at Ford, joined Breakthrough T1D after starting at Ford in 2002 as a way to get out of her shell. She initially started helping with golf outings.

Ljaljevic recounted the friends she’s met through Breakthrough T1D over the years that she otherwise would not have known, as well as those she’s encountered outside of Ford. She is now the Breakthrough T1D lead for Product Development, where she plays a central role in organizing and coordinating vehicle auctions and raffles, such as a Mustang Dark Horse giveaway in 2024. Each instance involves extensive collaboration with various Ford departments and external partners.

Ljaljevic appreciates Ford’s philanthropic culture, noting the company’s extensive involvement in various charitable endeavors beyond Breakthrough T1D, such as supporting veterans and community services.

Ljaljevic encourages employees to get involved by contacting the Ford Global Action Team.

Taking a ride with Breakthrough T1D

After nearly 30 years of working at Ford, Tony Turner’s passion for cycling led to his involvement with Breakthrough T1D. A Michigan native now working at Ford’s HVC distribution facility in Lakeland, Florida, he has actively participated in the organization’s bicycle ride fundraising events since 2016, serving as a ride coach and recruiting team members.

Each of the six Breakthrough T1D cycling fundraisers, which are spread around the country in locations such as La Crosse, Wisconsin, Amelia Island, Florida, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, have about 300 riders of all skill levels and level of bicycles and feature treks of up to 100 miles. Turner consistently recruits additional riders, and that often has a multiplier effect, with his new teammates bringing in even more participants. 

Turner recalled one of the rides at Amelia Island early in his Breakthrough T1D riding career, where he was struggling to finish the event. A young boy, about six or seven years old, gave him a medal at the finish line and thanked him for his contribution to curing Type 1 diabetes. Turner still has the picture. 

“It really touched me,” he said. “I’m (pushing) myself, but when you get to the end, and you see that work you put into it really pays off for someone else’s benefit.”

Turner said he plans to be involved with Breakthrough T1D well into retirement because it’s an important charity to be involved with. 

Breakthrough T1D is No. 1 for Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile or childhood onset diabetes, results from a lack of insulin production in the pancreas and requires daily doses of the hormone. The cause of the autoimmune condition is unknown, and more than nine million people in the world are living with Type 1 diabetes according to the T1D Index, which Breakthrough T1D and other organizations support. The Index is the most accurate, data-based resource representing the true global scope and impact of Type 1 diabetes.

Breakthrough T1D, the world’s leading funder of research for Type 1 diabetes, recently changed its longtime name from JDRF to more accurately reflect the scope of the nonprofit organization’s work to benefit the entire community of patients affected by Type 1 diabetes, which can develop at any age. Adult-age diagnoses account for nearly half of all Type 1 diabetes diagnoses. The organization’s mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat Type 1 diabetes and its complications.

United for a cure

Ford’s involvement with Breakthrough T1D dates back to 1983 with support through corporate grants, but increased fundraising and employee involvement came around 2000. In 1998, Ford created the Ford Global Action Team with former longtime Ford Director Edsel B. Ford II as the executive champion for the cause. The mission is near and dear to Ford – his son, Albert, has been living with Type 1 diabetes for more than 25 years. To date, the Ford Global Action Team has raised more than $80 million, with annual contributions rising from $180,000 at just three Southeast Michigan sites in 1998 to $3 million annually across 35 sites in 11 countries today. 

Employee-led fundraising initiatives include parking spot raffles, auctions, job-switch drawings, sneaker sales, jeans days, bake sales, car shows, golf tournaments, and participation in Breakthrough T1D fundraising Walks and Rides. Ford Dealers also support the fundraising efforts through test-drives, family walk team sponsorships, social media and advertising, golf outings, and vehicle displays.

Ford is one of Breakthrough T1D’s largest global partners. Ford’s annual donation to Breakthrough T1D has rebounded to $3 million after taking a hit during the COVID pandemic that forced many employees to work from home. In 2021, Darwin Ost, a former UAW-Ford employee from Buffalo Stamping Plant, raised $22,000 for Breakthrough T1D riding his bicycle along a 2,400-mile route that traced a portion of Ford’s production footprint through the Midwest and Canada.

How $10 becomes $3 million

Just before the pandemic, Ford’s Dearborn-based salaried and manufacturing employees combined to raise a record $1 million in 2019. Ford’s Windsor plants and Kentucky Truck Plant, where efforts have included a long-running golf scramble event, are two of the company’s largest Breakthrough T1D contributors. Gael Sandoval, national director of the Ford Global Action Team, said many employees who raise money and volunteer for Breakthrough T1D don’t even have a personal connection to Type 1 diabetes – they just do it because being a Ford employee means giving back to your community and getting involved. And that comes on top of their day-to-day responsibilities. 

There are also corporate initiatives like auctions of unique vehicles conducted in partnership with auctioneer Barrett-Jackson or the annual sweepstakes, which awarded a Texas man a one-of-one Mustang Dark Horse convertible in 2024. These special vehicles can be a significant undertaking for the Ford teams involved, but they end up raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Breakthrough T1D. It also gets the teams thinking ahead about what kind of vehicle they can cook up for the next year. 

“All of the employees that worked on that made it something special,” Sandoval said of the Dark Horse convertible. “It’s not just ‘you won a car, take it and go away.’ The winners become part of our Ford and Breakthrough T1D families.”

How Ford employees make a difference

Most of the money Ford and its employees raise goes to research for a cure of Type 1 diabetes, but funds are also directed to Breakthrough T1D’s advocacy work, as well as community support, education, and outreach. The organization is emphasizing its reach to underserved markets and its efforts to help reduce the cost of insulin. 

Since its founding in 1970, Breakthrough T1D has played a role in nearly every major Type 1 diabetes advancement, including drugs, devices, and cell therapies, according to its website. In 2023, through its investments and funding from other organizations, corporations, and governments, Breakthrough T1D drove a total of $449.4 million to T1D research and therapy development. One of the latest significant advances is the approval of a drug that can delay the onset of Type 1 diabetes in individuals eight and older—the development of which Breakthrough T1D had supported since the 1980s.

Change has also come within Ford Motor Company, where diabetes impacts 8% of employees and their family members, as well. Sandoval said Ford of Europe has adapted its hiring policies for potential hires dealing with Type 1 diabetes. The company has also updated its health insurance for employees to cover the costs associated with diabetes medications, devices and supplies.

A legacy of hope

Ford team members have several charities to choose from when it comes to donating their time and energy, but the ones who choose Breakthrough T1D make lifelong memories and connections with other employees that last a lifetime. Ford’s long-standing partnership with Breakthrough T1D demonstrates the profound impact that can be achieved when a corporation and its employees unite in support of a worthy cause.