The Elvis Automobile Museum was all shook up on October 22, 2009 with more than 50 people anxious to kick-off the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) 2010 Promise Ball. Jack Soden, CEO, Elvis Presley Enterprises®, gave a moving speech about the daily challenges faced by children with type 1 diabetes. Lori Hanks described what it was like when her daughter, Grace, only 8 years old at the time, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes while traveling between Memphis and Dallas in 2000. It was a day that changed their lives forever. Grace is on an insulin pump which delivers the insulin she needs to keep her alive. There is no cure for type 1 and JDRF is searching for a cure to this disease. 

Grace is the granddaughter of Joe Hanks, Elvis and Vernon Presley’s former accountant and one of the original three executor’s of Elvis’ estate. Grace’s parents, Lori and Jody Hanks worked at Graceland from 1981, when it opened until they graduated from college and were married in 1987.

The Hanks family, like millions of others across our nation, volunteer for JDRF. They are doing all they can to help find a cure for this debilitating disease. Jody is past president of the West Tennessee JDRF Branch and Lori is currently serving on the Board of Directors as Secretary and she is the 2010 Promise Ball Chair. Grace serves as a Youth Ambassador for JDRF and acts as a mentor to the newly diagnosed. She also takes Garbo to speak to churches, schools and youth groups about diabetes. Ben and Sarah Kate volunteer and actively participate in the Walk for a Cure every October. 

Pictured from left to right – Sarah Kate (11), Jody, Lori, Ben (19), Grace (17) and Garbo, Grace’s medic alert dog. Garbo alerts Grace to high and low blood sugars. She is trained to get help for Grace if she ever passes out from the symptoms of high and/or low blood sugars.

Jack Soden with Grace Hanks and Garbo.