Steve Wariner receives honor for diabetes efforts

Wariner will accept the award and perform "There Will Come a Day (Holly's Song)" during the fourth annual dinner in New York. He initially wrote the song, with lyrics speaking to the parents of any child with a disability or illness, to perform at a JDRF gala. He included it on his 2003 "Steal Another Day" album and gave it to the JDRF to use for promotional and fund-raising purposes.

Diabetes has had a personal effect on Wariner, whose stepdaughter, Holly, was diagnosed with the disease as a child. Wariner was the Honorary Celebrity Chair for the 2000 and 2001 Walks to Cure Diabetes in Nashville. In 2001 and 2003, he joined the JDRF Children's Congress in Washington to raise awareness of the need for juvenile diabetes research and to lobby for stem cell research. He and Holly have also recorded public service announcements for JDRF and have done several interviews to raise awareness of the need for diabetes research.

In 2002, the JDRF Middle Tennessee Chapter honored Wariner at its Reds, Whites and Tunes Gala in Nashville for his work on behalf of the organization. He performed at the event and donated several items to the silent auction, all of which helped raise $650,000 for the Johnny Russell Memorial Grant for juvenile diabetes research at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In 2006 Wariner, received the JDRF Angel Award from the Los Angeles Chapter and he received the JDRF Mike Coleman Award from the Knoxville Chapter in 2004.

"I'm deeply honored to receive the Hope Award," said Wariner. "Mount Sinai does incredible work and research, and we're all committed to finding a cure for diabetes. I feel blessed to be able to use my talents in any way to join that effort."