American Diabetes Association’s 2011 Kiss-a-Pig Campaign chose Dr. Tom Leitzel, President of the Technical College of the Lowcountry, to represent Beaufort.
Kiss-a-Pig is a unique fundraising event that pits local community leaders against each other in a contest to raise votes (each dollar equals one vote) for their campaigns. The candidate with the most votes wins the chance to kiss the pig. Insulin was originally developed from the pancreas of pigs, and therefore the pig is honored with this campaign. The pig will be kissed at the Intergalactic Ball on Saturday, May 7 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Savannah.
For the past two years, Beaufort County has taken home the bacon. In 2010, Beaufort Memorial Hospital CEO, Dr. Rick Toomey, won by raising $21,000. In 2009, Beaufort Mayor, Billy Keyserling, won by raising $27,000. Dr. Tom Leitzel, the 2011 Beaufort representative, hopes to carry on the tradition while recognizing he has some stiff competition this year. According to Leitzel, “It’s a real honor to step in behind Rick and Billy and I hope to do Beaufort proud. There are strong competitors in the game and I will be looking to the students, faculty and staff of Technical College of the Lowcountry for support. I also hope to generate support from the community-at-large.”
All funds raised during the Kiss-a-Pig campaign benefit American Diabetes Association, the nation’s leading organization to curing diabetes and improving the lives of all people affected by diabetes. Diabetes is the nation’s seventh deadliest disease, killing more than 231,000 Americans each year. It is the leading cause of heart disease and stroke, adult blindness, kidney failure and non-traumatic amputations.
For more information on how you can get involved in Kiss-a-Pig, contact Maria Center at 912-353-8110, ext. 3091 or mcenter@diabetes.org.
