6-Year-Old Michigan Boy Selling Pumpkins To Get Diabetic Alert Dog
6-year-old Ian Unger is selling pumpkins in Howard City, Michigan to raise money for a diabetic alert dog. Ian is a kindergarten student at MacNaughton Elementary and has Type 1 Diabetes which requires constant monitoring of his blood sugar levels and insulin pump.
After being told by the school district's nurse that he wasn't allowed to ride the bus because of his diabetes, Ian knew he had to do something. So, he did some research and found out that he would need a Diabetic Alert Service Dog to help monitor his blood sugar levels.
That's when he decided that in order to get the money to buy the dog, he would sell pumpkins. Ian and his mom planted pumpkins at their home in Sand Lake and now that it's pumpkin season, they are cashing in on their investment!
As of October 15th, Ian has already sold out of his pumpkins, so his mom put together a Facebook Fundraiser Page to raise the rest of the money for the dog. It costs tens of thousands of dollars to train a diabetic alert dog, so the family was asking for $20,000, which they've already raised! You can check out his Facebook ad below.
And if you are anything like Steve, you'll want to know, how a dog can help with monitoring blood sugar levels... According to Diabetic Alert Dogs of America "Low and high blood sugar levels, or hypoglycemia/ hyperglycemia, release chemicals in the body that have a distinct odor that is undetectable by humans. Our training process positively motivates these dogs to alert when these odors are detected."