Over spring break, I had the privilege of attending fundraisers for the Talki Foundation. Charlie Komons is the founder of the amazing and inspiring foundation that helps raise money for diabetics and service dogs.
This foundation is mainly focused in the state of Georgia to help low-income diabetic patients to purchase insulin. Apart from fundraising for diabetics, the Talki Foundation helps to spread awareness and educate people on how important alert dogs and their handlers are.
Leo is Charlie’s alert dog who was with him throughout the events and weekend. One time, Leo even alerted someone who didn’t know she had diabetes. Spreading awareness and education about how Leo does his job can help navigate a lot of people through their journey as a diabetic.
Every year, the Talki Foundation hosts a fundraiser to help raise money and spread awareness. There is a person of the year that is announced at the dinner fundraiser. This person represents someone who has overcome many things and makes an impact in the diabetic community. Although the events aren’t huge, it makes it feel more personal and you get an inside look at the Talki Foundation experience.
Komons puts a lot of effort and hard work to make these events welcoming to everyone. Not everyone on Jekyll Island was there for the events, however, he made sure to go up to everyone and tell them about it. This has helped the foundation grow because of Komons’ efforts to let everyone and anyone know about what he is doing and why he’s doing it.
The fundraisers took place in Jekyll Island, Georgia. It consisted of amazing food, live music and endless amounts of Talki Foundation merchandise. During the dinner, there were many people who got up, spoke about Komons and this really clarified how much this foundation has impacted people.
Not only does Komons care about people with diabetes and alert dogs, he has the biggest heart I’ve ever witnessed. The way he spoke about his foundation like it was his pride and joy made everyone in the room want to give him all of their money. Even I pulled out the two dollars I had and donated it.
Seeing the Talki Foundation live in action made me want to go out and make a difference. It made me want to become the type of person that could make a difference. I really do wish we had more people like Charlie Komons everywhere in the world. So if you want to make a difference whether that’s through a foundation or just bettering yourself, all you need to do is start somewhere.