POLAND — Friends do all they can to help friends. That’s why teacher Eli Fanus’ sixth grade gifted and talented group at Poland Community School joined Joseph “Joey” Banks in his battle with Type 1 diabetes.

Each year members of the group choose a cause they can get behind.

As fifth-graders, their pick for a cause to work on during their last year at the elementary school was a snap: Joey Banks, one of their own, had been diagnosed with diabetes the year before and they knew what their friend had to deal with.

They knew about the insulin pump on his arm. They were aware that he gets “weird” – excited – when his sugar levels are high, and that his head drooped to his desk when sugar was low.

They had seen him draw a drop of blood to check sugar levels and some had walked with him to the nurse’s office.

And they learned that this can happen to anyone.

“I was 10 when I got it,” Banks said. “It may have been a weird reaction to a virus.”

Student Sydney Dick said three Poland Community School students have Type 1 diabetes, including her little sister who was diagnosed when she was 2 years old.

Dick said when a person is afflicted with the disease, their pancreas produces little or no insulin and they will be dependent on artificial insulin for their lifetime.

She also noted that, as awareness posters declare, getting Type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle, is not preventable, is not reversible, can occur at any age, and has no cure.

“At least not yet,” she said.

This year the group’s plan of attack has been two-pronged: raise awareness of the disease and raise money to help fund the search for a cure.

“We put posters up all around school,” Dick said, “telling people some facts about the disease and telling them to come to the fair and buy our stuff.”

The fair was the PTA’s annual Fall Harvest Fair on Nov. 14, a date that coincided with World Diabetes Day. The group put plenty of thought into how and what they might offer for donations to their cause.

“Anna was looking for crafts we might make and saw owls,” Lily Moreau said.

“Everybody in our class loves owls,” Anna Brettler said. 

“And we had as our motto ‘if you give a hoot about diabetes, please donate,’”Ashton Guerin said.

“My father carved a saw-whet owl from wood for the raffle,” Alan Tibbetts said, “and my grandmother, who bought one ticket, won it!”

Various crafts and some sweets, like the cannoli made by Moreau and her mother, were also for sale. With each sale of goods or raffle tickets, fairgoers were given small paper owls made by all members of the group, in thanks for their donations.

Banks’ friends had set what they thought might be an unachievable fundraising goal of $500.

“With five minutes to go we finally made it, $502,” David Tjalsma said.

“And 13 cents,” Tibbetts said.

The group presented a check for the amount Monday to Christina Foster, development coordinator for the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation in Maine.