By Stella Inger
NewsChannel 3

Nearly 20 million children in the U.S. are living with diabetes and a third of them don't even know they have it. One local program is doing something to change that and help the kids, but possibly not for much longer. The program may soon be in jeopardy.

Yvonne Rodriguez can't hold back the tears, thinking, "what if?"

"Look at all of the parents that showed up at the last minute."

What if this program gets taken away? It's called Desert Diabetes Alert. Located at Eisenhower Medical Center, the free program goes around to local middle and high schools screening kids who are at risk for diabetes, hoping to turn their lives around.

"I've lost 4. 2 percent of my body fat. I've lost 10 pounds. I lost 5 pounds in a month. I'm on way to losing more."

Despite all of the hard work the program does, it may soon be forced to shut down.

"Our funding is up at the end of June and we have not heard at this point if our funding will continue. We hope that the funding will continue. It's a great grogram and it's very much needed for this community."

Cindy Donnelly is a nurse educator for the program. She's has diabetes and she's worried the worse could happen.

"We have helped many, many students and I hope to continue to help as many as I can."

Brianna and the rest of these kids are the lucky ones, because they've gotten the proper attention. Donnelly only hopes there will be more children just as lucky.

"We really need this program. It's really changed our lives."

If you'd like to donate to Desert Diabetes Alert, call the Eisenhower Diabetes Program at 760-773-1403.