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OLEAN The Street Classics Car Club presented a $5,000 check to JDRF for Type 1 diabetes research Thursday at its weekly cruise night.

Since 1991 the club has donated more than $70,000 to the organization formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said Karen Swierski, executive director of JDRFs Western New York chapter. Swierski was at cruise night in the Olean Center Mall parking lot to accept the check from club President Jim McKelvey and Treasurer John Ricci, as well as other club members.

The club began donating to support the organizations mission of finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes because one of its founding members had the disease.

We keep plugging away, McKelvey said.

About 1.25 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, according to a 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that affects the bodys ability to produce insulin.

We dont call it juvenile anymore because you dont get rid of it as you get older, Swierski said.

Donations to JDRF go toward both research and outreach.

Our mission is to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes, thats our main focus, but we realize theyre are a lot of people with Type 1 out there and we have to help them manage their disease, Swierski said.

Many donations come from groups like the Street Classics Car Club.

We do some big fundraisers, we do work with the federal government, but it's the community fundraisers like this group that really make a difference, Swierski said.

As of 2016, the clubs 25th anniversary, the club has donated more $84,000 to a variety of local charities, according to club officials. Organizations who have benefited include the SPCA in Cattaraugus County, Olean Food Pantry and St. Bonaventure University's Warming House. Individuals, who needed assistance after fires or needed ramps to get into their homes, have also been helped.

We try to help everybody, but a lot of it just depends on our cruise nights and our Car Show and our sponsors, McKelvey said.

The clubs 26th annual Street Classics Car Show will take place Aug. 6 at Firemans Park in Allegany. There will be 50/50 drawings, a Chinese auction, food, games and live music. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cruise nights, held every Thursday, will last through Labor Day.

(Contact reporter Tom Dinki at tdinki@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @tomdinki)

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Street Classics Car Club makes annual donation for Type 1 diabetes research - Olean Times Herald

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