In 1996, Chris Dudley, a former NBA player who has Type 1 diabetes, founded the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp. The camp, located near Portland, Ore., provides a unique experience for kids, aged 10-17, with the disease. Tyler Byrne ’09 first attended the camp in 1998, the same year that he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Byrne said that his experience at the camp changed his perception of living with diabetes.
“Going to the camp and meeting other people with diabetes made me feel like it was going to be okay,” he said.
Byrne continued to attend the camp for seven years and worked as a counselor for four additional years.
After finding inspiration in his experiences at the basketball camp, in July 2007, Byrne decided to start a non-profit organization called Diabetes Happens. The organization creates and sells diabetes-related t-shirts and donates the profit to the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp.
Byrne started Diabetes Happens in collaboration with Mike Farell, whom he met at the basketball camp. Farell played basketball for Division-I school Lafayette College and is now the director of sports marketing at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Conor Byrne ’11, Tyler’s younger brother, is responsible for designing the t-shirts. He has been working with Diabetes Happens since the organization’s founding and is a key member of its creative team.
“All of the Diabetes Happens apparel is physically designed by me, and I take certain liberties with the slogans, images, and colors,” Conor said. “I don’t have total creative control, but I play the primary role in the creative process.”
The funding for Diabetes Happens derives solely from the sale of t-shirts. Byrne’s parents, Gina and Kevin, were the original investors for the first batch of shirts. Not only have they been paid back in full, but they have also been able to see their investment grow.
Last summer, the organization was able to donate $1,300 to the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp, which sponsored five campers for its 2008 summer session. This past summer, Diabetes Happens raised another $2,000 in t-shirt sales. According to Byrne, the profit will go once again to the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp.
Field Yates ’09 owns a Diabetes Happens t-shirt and believes that the Byrne brothers’ efforts are an inspiration to him and his friends.
“It’s a great shirt for a great cause,” Yates said. “The shirts are where fashion meets a powerful statement.”
Byrne feels that the t-shirts are a great way to spread the word about diabetes, as well as facilitate conversation on the disease.
“My friends buy the t-shirts and wear them out, and other kids see them and are interested,” he said.
Joseph Reilly, head Men’s Basketball coach at the University, said that the organization’s fundraising is incredibly important.
“If your resources are limited, you might not have the opportunity otherwise to go to camp,” he said. “It sounds like a great cause.”
Davis Smith, medical director at the University’s Davison Health Center, commended efforts such as the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp.
“The beauty of a camp like this is that the kids learn how to live life to the fullest while achieving excellent disease control because of the expertise of the staff,” Smith said. “They can push themselves and learn how to really master controlling their glucose optimally in caring situations. This empowers them enormously.”
According to Smith, the exercise is beneficial to the campers in terms of both staying healthy and staying happy.
“It’s 2008, and even a serious, chronic condition such as diabetes should be no impediment to a full, rich life,” he said.
Byrne has ambitions to expand the scope of his organization.
“The goal of Diabetes Happens is to use the money we raise to provide diabetics with exciting and unique opportunities,” he said.
In the future, Byrne hopes to use Diabetes Happens to create an artistic outlet for people with the disease. As a Film Studies major and musician, he has found that he is able to express himself well through a creative outlet. Every year, Byrne makes a short film for the campers at the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp. He wrote the camp’s theme song when he was a camper. He plans to hold a contest for children to submit photos, drawings, music, or films inspired by their lives with diabetes.
Diabetes Happens shirts cost $20 and can be ordered through Byrne.
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