A Look Inside Global Diabetic Awareness with Chief Information Officer and long-time Chula Vistan, Thomas Moore.

ET: Tell us a little about your background.
TM: I was born in Brooklyn NY lived on Long Island with my Parents until about 1964 when we relocated to Imperial Beach.

I Lived on Coronado Avenue for about one year and then we moved to Chula Vista where I grew up.  After graduating CVHS and working various jobs I went into the US Air Force. After being discharged and coming back to CV, I met my Wife and worked for a local shoe retailer for about 6 years and decided to buy a Computer.  I eventually started working for a ‘high tech’ company (SAI then, now SAIC) dong mostly admin type stuff, but it was all based on all the new tech stuff as it came out.

After a lot of on the job training and absorbing as much as I could, SAIC lost the U.S. Navy Contract, and the job market fell apart in the SoCal area.  We literally sold everything, moved to New York and lived on the East Coast working various jobs on the East Coast for the next few years.

We then moved back and  when our oldest  Daughter was in high school (yes Chula Vista High School), my Wife was diagnosed with diabetes.

ET: Tell us a little about growing up in Southern California and Chula Vista, CA
TM: I have been blessed to not only grow up in SoCal/CV, but having the opportunity to have my children and grandchildren also do the same. Speaking from personal experiences, sometimes the resources that are so accessible, so beautiful, are taken for granted.

Can a kid ride a bike, surfboard in tow on a homemade ‘carrier’, from third and ‘H’ to the pier in IB, and on good days (surfing) ride back home? Is the Fiesta de la Luna anywhere? Those questions being rhetorical in nature, the point is that these things are still present.

ET: How many years have you lived here?
TM: Other than the time living on the East Coast, I have had the pleasure of living in this fine area for about thirty years. My parents relocated to So Cal because of my Fathers career, and we first lived in Imperial Beach for a year or so before moving into what is now referred to as ‘downtown’ Chula Vista. Living so very close to Saint Rose of Lima, I went to School at St. Rose until seventh grade, transferring to CV Junior High and graduating CVHS class of 1977.

After CVHS I worked odd jobs around CV prior to entering the USAF. I then met my Wife after the AF upon returning to CV.  We were blessed with the birth of all three children right here in SD.  We spent about 15 years in the NY/CT/PA area before returning to CV.  We have watched our eldest Daughter graduate CVHS year of 2000, and be a part of the community that birth my Wife and I grew up in.

ET: How did you get involved with Global Diabetic Awareness?
TM: Some have, and will, find it somewhat odd in many ways, how I came upon Global Diabetic Awareness (GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS). Even though my professional background was as a Technologist, and my Wife Julie has been diabetic for about fifteen years, I only got involved on any online ‘Social’ diabetes related Website about a year ago. And up until that point, I rarely, if at all, viewed videos online about anything. The first website I became a ‘member’ of was DiabeticConnect.com. A video caught my eye about something called ‘Change the World…Global Diabetic Awareness’.

For some reason I chose to look at this video from Mark-John Clifford (CEO/Co-Founder). I watched Mark’s video explaining what he actually meant by GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS…for about one minute.

That’s all it took for me to contact Mark and become involved. And it certainly was not all peaches and cream to start. We (GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS) were trying to do something that has never done before. This vision Mark, and his Wife Patti had, sounded simple on the surface. This was, and always will be, a path to be more proactive at the ‘diabetic’ level of things.

And the diabetic level, is a global need. This global need began to take on a dual definition. One, of course, of a geographical nature, and one of an all inclusive nature of what having this disease really means. Behind every mention of the word ‘diabetes’ is a ‘diabetic’. And behind this human element of diabetes is a support network that too, is global in both definitions of the word.

ET: What makes Global Diabetic Awareness different or unique?
TM: There is a plethora of aspects that makes GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS both different and unique. Let me start at the beginning somewhat, of how GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS actually came to life. And as I briefly give a historical view, keep in mind that the goal of ANY online ‘Network’ and/or Website is traffic. How many ‘visitors’, what is the registered user count.

I will not get into all the Metrics and facts and figures that GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS tracks. Because many things became clear from the beginning. And some things transformed from what were initially conceived and designed. And the reason why these transformations took place was due to the fact that from the beginning, GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS was not going after ‘members’. Nor were we interested in ‘hits’ or ‘page views’ etc.

We sometimes actually joke a bit on how we have done things in a way most would consider ‘backwards’. We did not operate on the “Build it and they will Come” mentality. One of the original Websites launched by Mark and Patti, Diabetic L.I.F.E. WON was the birthplace of  GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS. That Site, in conjunction with Diabetic KID’Z 4 L.I.F.E.  began to shape the story that has become GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS, along with the World Diabetic KID’Z Foundation (WDKF) has grown into. The WDKF houses all the initiatives and projects underway that deal with Kid’z with diabetes, and the ones whom care for, and love them.

And if only to give statistics for comparison purposes, Diabetic L.I.F.E. WON, only one of many Domains owned and operated now by GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS, in the first nine months of existence, Diabetic KID’Z 4 L.I.F.E saw 1.5 million visitors that viewed 1.2 million Pages, from 60 Countries around the world. Through the message portrayed in that infamous video almost a year ago, I have been able to bring my background as a Technologist, coupled with living with my diabetic Wife, to the Mission that encompasses GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS.

ET: How has your group been involved in Eastlake, Chula Vista, CA?
TM: Specifically, with the announcement of the Global Diabetic Awareness Community’s, GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS is bringing it’s Mission and Message into Community’s, using  a grassroots approach. We are doing this with our message of the “OuterNet”. Simply put, the “OuterNet” is the NON Internet. There are numerous groups that do NOT have Internet access, or own a computer. There are structures, and infrastructures of offline methods already in place, to accomplish this.

Here is great example of how the “OuterNet”, coupled with our newly announced

“Diabetic Synchronicity; Health, Fitness and You”, can work in the Community at the grassroots level, right here in our Town. A very dear friend, Anthony Raso, is one of the Owners of La Bella Pizza, and the brains behind the new La Bella Gaming Center. The La Bella Gaming Center fills a void left when the only other place in Chula Vista, the Silver Cue, disappeared.

In this example there are multiple components, specifically as it relates to GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS’s “Diabetic Synchronicity; Health, Fitness and You”. A popular local establishment that offers ambiance, a local tradition, good food, and a place to go work off the food, in a fun, engaging, SAFE &  Family atmosphere, all in one place!

Using this model, Global Diabetic Awareness Community’s can virtually (but in the “OuterNet”) use any place within a persons comfort level, to utilize the grassroots approach in raising awareness. And only until we can encourage people to ‘Step out of the Internet, and into the OuterNet’  to raise awareness at a personal face to face level, there will remain somewhat of a bottleneck online with people that only remain in that small circle of the ‘Social Networks’ as we know them now.

ET: Are you a non-profit?
TM: Global Diabetic Awareness is part of a non-profit that is funded through private foundations.

ET: How do you create the relationships with your readers?
TM: As one would  imagine, since our core beliefs are for, and about diabetes and diabetics, anytime you attempt to speak to anyone about a disease, there are roadblocks at almost every junction. It is not a fun, uplifting topic for most, diabetic or not. And anytime a health issue is brought up there is of course privacy concerns associated. And the ‘ spiral of silence’ is something difficult to overcome. At the same time we do not, nor imply that we are Medical professionals and the implication always has to be that getting professional treatment for any and all health concerns must first and foremost be addressed by those trained to do so. So GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS always tries to address our Friends at as much of a personal level possible.

ET: Is there a website where our readers can get more information?
TM: GLOBAL DIABETIC AWARENESS does have a diverse presence on the Internet covering many of the ‘Social platforms’ as well as other online resources such as Radio, Television, Websites, Forums, Blogs etc. As we have been evolving into both an Internet (online) and an OuterNet (offline) resource focusing on how old fashioned grassroots methodology can be utilized to carry out our Mission, we have not focused on any specific presence online in the traditional sense of a ‘Website’, or online ‘Community’ or even ‘Members’. That being said, anyone can reach me either through ET, or send an email to info@ctwgda.org and someone will respond just as quickly as possible.