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The Tour de Cure made it clear this year that even a pandemic will not stop them from raising lots of money for a great cause.

With the help of a virtual event on Saturday, participants have raised more than $265,000 this year. They ran, walked and biked their way to the total on a mission to stop diabetes.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the American Diabetes Association to delay the event, which is usually in April, and then make it virtual. But if anything, the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that conquering diabetes is more important than ever. Statistics from the first six months of the pandemic have shown that diabetes, and related risk factors and complications like high blood pressure, kidney disease and more, are major risk factors for having a more severe case of COVID-19. Diabetes is a serious problem by itself, but the past few months have highlighted the fact that it can exacerbate other conditions — even recently discovered viruses — and wreak havoc on lives and families.

“We are so grateful to the community for their amazing support, even in challenging times. Though physically distanced, our donors came together on June 20 for a cause that connects them,” said Deanie Eldridge, Virginia and West Virginia executive director for the American Diabetes Association.

A Facebook event page was the new headquarters for the event. On this page, participants posted pictures and videos of their preparation and how they were participating. The goal was to move for at least 34 minutes in honor of the 34 million people living with diabetes. Most walked, ran or biked, but as long as they were active, it didn’t matter how.

“We are very pleased with the success of our Virtual Tour de Cure event this past Saturday. We had 512 registered event participants, and close to 200 of them indicated they were attending the virtual event on our social media page,” said Eldridge.

Just as they would have at the actual event, participants learned more about the fight against diabetes thanks to informative posts on the Facebook page. There was even a virtual cooking demonstration with a diabetic-friendly recipe from Dedra Blount and Debra Brabson from Now You’re Cooking Culinary Studio.

We congratulate the American Diabetes Association on yet another successful event — albeit a virtual one — and look forward to the 2021 rendition, which we hope can once again be hosted in Suffolk.