Orville McCracken, a 55-year member of the Clearfield International Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 812 and past state president, holds The Eagle Magazine that tells the story of the FOE's latest project to raise $5 million annually for five years to fund The Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa. (Photo by Jane Elling)

On that day The Eagles Diabetes Research Center was established at the University of Iowa.

In a recent interview, Orville McCracken, a 55-year member of the Clearfield International Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 812 and a past state president, and Art Ehrmann, cancer fund chairman, said at the international convention in Louisville, Ky., that delegates gave their approval - by thunderous acclamation - to the proposal. Eleven members of the Clearfield Aerie attended the convention and approximately 85 were there from Pennsylvania.

The plan calls for the FOE to raise $5 million annually in the next five years to fund the project and the University of Iowa will match the $25 million contribution.

The Eagles Diabetes Research Center will be housed in the Institute for Biomedical Discovery being constructed on the UI campus in Iowa City. It will be a cutting-edge medical facility dedicated to a single mission: ending the epidemic of diabetes. The center will occupy an entire floor of the institute and have 120,000 square feet of lab space.

The project was presented to the convention by Dennis Gilhousen, member of the Norton, Kan., Aerie No. 3288, and Dr. John Stokes, professor of medicine at the UI School of Medicine and a 20-year member of Iowa City Aerie No. 695.

Dr. Stokes, principal researcher, said, "This is a partnership that will make a difference. This is a partnership to cure diabetes."

Since 1987, 24 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes. Because of the disease, last year alone 46,000 people started dialysis, 24,000 went blind, 71,000 lost a limb and 585,000 were hospitalized.

Several Grand Aerie leaders have already personally pledged to contribute $1,000 per year to the project, and Mr. Gilhousen did the same in his address to the convention.

He pointed out that if every member of the Eagles would contribute $5 a year to the project, the goal would be handily met. He also pointed out that, "Our $5 million a year is insignificant compared to the $174 billion being spent on diabetes treatment now."

Before the second session of the 110th Grand Aerie Convention was gaveled to a close, delegates contributed more than $12,000 for the center.

An editorial column in The Eagle Magazine for October 2008 repeated Mr. Gilhousen's statement, "Now it's time for every member of every Aerie and Auxiliary to step up. With over a million Eagles throughout the United States and Canada, all it would take is for each member to send $5 every year. And the FOE would have its name permanently on a one-of-a-kind medical facility dedicated to wiping out diabetes."

Mr. McCracken stressed that, "Every penny donated to this or any other FOE project goes into the fund and it is all used for that cause. There are no administration fees."