Attendees of the Diabetes Family Festival fill a giant circle, the universal symbol for diabetes, to help spread awareness about this growing epidemic.

About 29.1 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. The Long Beach community has a high prevalence of diabetes—as high as 24 percent in some areas. It is important that the community knows about the resources available to them to help manage and prevent diabetes. In an effort to raise awareness for diabetes, Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach hosted the Second Annual Diabetes Family Festival on Sunday, November 1.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about diabetes and the people it affects,” says Linda Kerr, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, CDE, director, Diabetes Program, Long Beach Memorial. “We wanted to use this opportunity to provide the community with the tools for diabetes prevention and healthy living with diabetes.”

Families had fun creating their own turkeys for Thanksgiving at the crafts table.

Community members of all ages arrived to the family festival to learn about diabetes prevention and management from experts at Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s. More than 300 guests visited various vendor diabetes-related booths and resource tables to gather information about diabetes, nutrition and physical activity.

Some of the colorful classic cars entered in the car show at the Diabetes Family Festival at Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s.

In addition to the resources available at the Diabetes Family Festival, visitors were treated to a free classic car show, live music, free raffles, family friendly activities and delicious food truck options. Long Beach Memorial staff kept everybody engaged by providing instructional yoga and stretching breaks throughout the festival.

“I came to learn more about diabetes since it is something that runs in my family,” said Sandra Rojas. “I want to learn about the steps I can take to prevent diabetes for both myself and my children. I think the information provided here is important for the whole community to know.”