ANAHEIM : Restaurant Raises $150,000 for Diabetes

An Orange County diabetes support group has given $150,000 to Children’s Hospital of Orange County for continued research into juvenile-onset diabetes.

Officials from the Pediatric Adolescent Diabetes Research and Education (PADRE) Foundation presented the money to CHOC during a special ceremony at Anaheim Stadium before Sunday’s California Angels game.

The money was raised by employees and customers at 22 Spires Restaurants in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside counties through a six-week drive organized by PADRE, executive director Judy Rojas Harkins said.

The campaign is PADRE’s most lucrative fund-raiser and was possible because board member John Haretakis, who owns Spires restaurants, offered his aid, Harkins said. Haretakis’ 11-year-old daughter, Nicolina, has juvenile-onset diabetes.

Among the research efforts the money will be paying for, Harkins said, is development of a “non-invasive” glucose sensor that would end the need for children with diabetes to prick their fingers four to five times a day to test their blood.