On the New England Classic uphill climbs are an everyday occurrence. Now some people say we are facing one of our steepest climbs before we even get in the saddle.

These days there’s no getting away from conversations about the economy whether it’s referred to as the downturn, the meltdown or the crisis. When fund-raisers are having the conversations, today’s economic mess is called something else – an obstacle. But just like those mountain roads we must conquer on our bicycles, this obstacle can be overcome if we pick up our effort.

Some of the people who made pledges last year may not be able to match them this year. And some may not be able to pledge at all. But the one thing we can count on not declining is the toll of diabetes. Diabetes remains a silent killer with no cure. It affects children and adults of all ages. Diabetes can cause life-threatening complications that can result in blindness, heart disease, stroke, amputation and premature death.

There is no downturn in this disease for the 23.6 million people with diabetes and their families.

That is why when we do our fund-raising we can’t accept bringing in a little less. We have to work harder to bring in a little more. With other sources of funding strained, the American Diabetes Association is counting on cyclists to pick up the slack. We have to think of the NEC as an economic stimulus package for the fight against diabetes. The people living with this disease and the researchers working to cure it need us.

So if it took 100 pledges to raise $2,000 last year we have to be willing to go after 200 pledges to raise that much or more. When you ask for pledges and people hesitate, remind them that every dollar counts. If they talk about what they’ve lost in investments point out that getting an hour of diabetes research for $50 is a great return on investment. And if a business owner talks about how tough the economy has been, explain how tough diabetes can be on business. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the average economic cost (lost workdays, lost productivity, increased health insurance claims, etc) to a company of 50-100 employees is $57,090. For a company of 1,000 employees the cost is $523,325.

So when you think people might not be able to afford to make a pledge think again. We can’t afford not to ask.