Local family aids others affected by juvenile diabetes
By Elena Leshok
Contributor
Sophia Veit is a junior at Waterford Union High School with big dreams. It started as a wish to help others with similar struggles, and today it is a national organization that helps hundreds of children annually.
Sophia’s Promise is a 10-year-old organization, reaching 528 families around the world in 42 states and two foreign countries.
Since the start of the organization it has raised more than $100,000.
It all started with the diagnosis of diabetes for 5-year-old Sophia Veit. The Veit family struggled with this startling news – in the end they took this shocking situation and made the best of it.
Now, thanks to the Veit family, those with juvenile diabetes are lent a helping hand of support from the start, something the Veit’s only wish they had. Now, the Veits get to provide what they needed 11 years ago when their journey first began.
Sophia’s parents, Sam and Amy Veit, started Sophia’s Promise with the goal to help as many people as they can with juvenile diabetes, whose lives forever change with that diagnosis.
Sam Veit, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison, soon after the start of Sophia’s Promise left this position because the organization became a main focus in their lives. Fast forward a few years and Sophia is now old enough to contribute to her family’s organization. She sends out personal notes in gift baskets every month to families connected to Sophia’s Promise.
Sophia’s Promise is directly connected to Aurora Hospitals, UW Health America, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and American Family Children’s Hospital, where patients diagnosed are given a brochure with information about Sophia’s Promise and how to get in touch.
Recently, Sophia’s Promise hosted its annual event, “The Walk,” where people come from all over to donate money to Sophia’s Promise and to get a little cardio in too. This well-known event took place on Oct. 23 at Waterford Union High School. Along with “The Walk,” Sophia’s Promise hosts many events throughout the year, including an annual golf outing in the summer. The money raised at the events through donations go towards Sophia’s Promise but also the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
You know it’s a worthy cause when the 16-year-old namesake of the organization says the best part of Sophia’s Promise is “knowing you’re making a difference.”
During a recent interview, Sophia Veit came across as a selfless person with an incredible family that does inspiring things for near strangers.
Elena Leshok is a junior at Waterford Union High School.
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