The American Diabetes Association raised $195,986 at the 2016 Kiss-a-Pig gala. Charles Bowen of The Bowen Law group, chairman for the 2016 campaign and Maria Center, director for the 2016 campaign, announced that the Savannah Boar Association team of lawyers were the winners of this years competition, raising a total of $46,000.

Presented by Savannah Vascular & Cardiac Institute, Kiss-a-Pig is a regional campaign with competitors throughout Southeast Georgia raising money for research and treatment, while honoring the pig as the original source of insulin. The Savannah Boar Association’s leaders, Dave Smith, Brannen Searcy Smith and Ashleigh Madison with Southeast Law, kissed Lulu the new mascot for the ADA.

“The event is important because it engages diverse audiences and uses humor to draw attention to a serious disease,” said Center, director of Kiss-a-Pig. “The 2016 campaign pushed Kiss-a-Pig past the $5 million dollar mark, a remarkable achievement for the community leaders who have made this possible over the past 23 years.”

In second place was Phi Pigma Kappa, raising $23,745, team leader Gloria Guerrero, and third Place, Julie Hales, Hams from Effingham, with $21,903.

The focus of the campaign is to also educate the public about preventing amputations, one of the leading and most devastating complications of diabetes. ADA uses the popularity of Kiss-a-Pig to promote Dare To C.A.R.E, Savannah Vascular & Cardiac Institute’s program to provide FREE heart and vascular disease education and screening for anyone over 60, anyone over 50 who is at risk for diabetes and anyone over 40 who has diabetes.

C.A.R.E stands for:

• Carotid artery disease, responsible for at least 300,000 strokes a year;
• Abdominal aortic aneurysms, the third leading cause of sudden death in men over 60;
• Renal artery stenosis, affecting over 5 million Americans;
• Extremity artery disease; affecting over 10 million Americans.