Dana Davis Bringing New Life to Children’s Diabetes Foundation

Originally published by The Denver Post. Click here to see the original article.nnDana Davis was born to a world of privilege and opportunity, and she doesn’t hesitate to use it to her advantage.nnBut not for reasons one might assume.nnFollowing examples set by her mother, Barbara Davis, who in her mid-80s continues to chair the Carousel of Hope Ball that is held every other year in Beverly Hills, Calif., and sister, Nancy Davis Rickel, whose own battle with multiple sclerosis led to the start of another star-studded fundraiser, Race to Erase MS, Dana calls on some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry to help her raise money for the cause about which she is most passionate: diabetes.nnShe has lived with the disease for the past 40 years.

nnAnd the stars always come through, as they will Oct. 2, when Dana and her boyfriend, Shane Hendryson, chair Denver’s 29th Carousel Ball.nnUsher and OneRepublic are headlining the black-tie gala that honors NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and his wife, Paige, and is presented by the Children’s Diabetes Foundation at Denver as a benefit for the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes.nnA private plane filled with other celebrities, including Grammy-winning record producer David Foster, is due to arrive in time to join up to 1,000 guests at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center.nnFoster’s traveling companions won’t be known till they board, but Davis says Jane Fonda, Reese Witherspoon, Angelica Houston and some familiar faces from popular reality shows have indicated they will come if their shooting schedules allow.nnFoster’s wife, Yolanda, a cast member of the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” hopes to attend, too. She suffers from Lyme disease, so her participation will depend on how she’s feeling.nnTheir presence would put Dana Davis well on the way to achieving her goal — besides raising money — of restoring the Denver Carousel Ball to the luster it had in 1978 when stars such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Lucille Ball, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Raquel Welch, Diana Ross and Joan Collins descended on the former Currigan Hall for an evening like no other.nnAlthough, she added, if Sinatra had listened to her years ago, the ball that attracted worldwide attention might never have happened.nn“I don’t remember this, but my mother swears it’s true,” she said during an interview conducted at the foundation’s headquarters in the Denver Tech Center. “We were at our place in Palm Springs right after I was diagnosed, and Frank Sinatra was there. He and my mom were talking about ways to raise money for the Barbara Davis Center, and Frank said she should throw a party and he’d come sing. Mom says I looked right at him and blurted out, ‘But who’d come?’ “nnThe youngest of Barbara and the late billionaire Marvin Davis’ five children is the reason why the Barbara Davis Center was established. She has served on its board of directors for over a decade and for the past six months has been commuting to Denver from her home in Southern California to serve as the foundation’s interim executive director.nnDana Davis was 7 when she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Her parents were devastated but turned their despair into something that could help others.nnThey established the Barbara Davis Center that is now located on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora and is a world leader in research, treatment and educational programs for those with diabetes.nnAs the years passed, Dana also developed Hashimoto’s disease, a condition where one’s immune system attacks the thyroid, and celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder where gluten consumption ravages the small intestine.nnThree years ago, after dismissing numbness and other symptoms she had experienced for the previous five years, she followed a friend’s advice and saw the doctor who confirmed that she did indeed have multiple sclerosis.nnMS, for which there is no known cause or cure, affects the central nervous system and can be progressive and disabling.nnComplications from diabetes cost Dana one of her toes, and balance issues related to MS cause her to walk with a cane.nnAdditionally, she has endured three excruciating surgeries to treat septic arthritis of the knee. “I’m pretty good with pain,” she said, “but those recoveries really, really hurt.”nnShe remains remarkably upbeat.nn“It’s easier — and you feel a lot better — if you don’t wallow,” Davis says. “Although I do allow myself the occasional pity party.”nnBecoming cozy with so many stars came easy. Her dad owned 20th Century Fox, the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Pebble Beach Corp. and Aspen Skiing Co. prior to his death in 2004, and her brother, John, is a producer whose credits include NBC’s hit crime drama ” The Blacklist” and such movies as “The Firm,” starring Tom Cruise, and the Walter Matthau-Jack Lemmon comedy “Grumpy Old Men.”nnSo it might seem logical that she’d settle into a pattern of spending lazy Southern California days — her principal residence is Brentwood — lounging poolside, luxuriating at the spa or hanging with the beautiful people at some Beverly Hills hotspot.nnBut that’s not her thing.nnAfter 15 years as a kindergarten school teacher in Aspen and inner-city Los Angeles and developing a line of high-end, high-fashion shoesdesigned for the comfort of diabetics and others with foot-related issues, it became apparent that the time was right for her to assume a greater role with the Children’s Diabetes Foundation.nn“Although it was a logical progression for me to be where I am now, I didn’t want to come marching in and make anyone, including my mother, feel uncomfortable. The center and the foundation are her babies, and I would never step on her toes.”n

Not just about parties

nLikewise, she is not a patient at the Barbara Davis Center.nn“I didn’t want any of the doctors, who truly are the best in the world, to feel uncomfortable … that the boss’ daughter was looking over their shoulders.”nnHer role at the foundation is to move things in a new direction, with less emphasis on special events — the Carousel Ball alone involves eight months and hundreds of hours of staff overtime — and more effort devoted to collaboration.nn“Events are great, and we will keep some of them, but we also need to look at other ways of raising money,” she said. “Instead of putting on so many of them, we’ll devote more time to grant-writing and pursuing matching funds. We’re putting more emphasis on social media and our website to build public awareness. We’ll also develop more partnerships with groups like the American Diabetes Association, which does terrific work in patient advocacy, and JDRF, which is an amazing machine when it comes to raising money.”nnBut, she emphasizes, “Nothing’s going to explode. If one thing doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.”nnShe also makes it clear that the foundation’s volunteers and the work they do will not be cast aside. “Change can be hard, but there’s still going to be room and opportunities for everyone. We honor and thank everyone who has been with us; we are not abandoning them. We will continue to value them.”nnDavis expects to strike the word “interim” from her title in the not-too-distant future as she and Hendryson, her boyfriend of seven years, spend an increasing amount of time in Denver.nnThey’ll continue to commute, though, because while he helps out at the foundation with contracts and technical matters, his work as a builder specializing in flipping houses is centered in L.A.nnColorado is familiar territory to him, too.nn“We figure we lived five minutes from each other as kids,” she says, although they didn’t meet until a mutual friend introduced them in L.A.n

Memories of Denver

nMarriage is a possibility, but for the moment they’re content to “leave well enough alone,” enjoying life with their dogs Hunter, a Jack Russell terrier, and Nick, a 120-pound black Lab, Great Dane and hound mix.nn“We’re really just a couple of nerds who wake up on a Saturday morning, go to Le Peep for one of their great gluten-free breakfasts and then head to Costco or Target to do our shopping. Then we’ll take the dogs for a walk or a swim, go see a movie or binge-watch our favorite TV shows.”nnLife in Denver is pretty tame compared with living among the stars in L.A., so it took a while for her to adjust.nn“When my parents moved to California, they enrolled me in a private high school, and I lasted two days. It wasn’t for me.” So she returned to Colorado to stay with her sister Nancy until she graduated from Kent Denver School.nnAfter Kent, she went on to receive a master’s degree in education from the University of Southern California.nnReturning to Denver, even on a part-time basis, has been easy, surprising and gratifying.nnTamarac Square, where she and her siblings went to the dollar movies on Tuesday nights, is now a Target, and the former headquarters of the Barbara Davis Center is being torn down to make way for a mixed-use development.nn“There’s a level of sophistication and culture here now that is much greater than when I was growing up, ” she says. “Plus, people are so nice in Denver; there’s a level of kindness that is deeper than anywhere else.nn“I never wanted my life to be all about diabetes,” she adds, “but if by leading the foundation I can carry on what my parents wanted when they started the Barbara Davis Center — to care for the family and the disease, regardless of ability to pay — that’s OK.”nn29TH DENVER CAROUSEL BALLnHonoring: John and Paige ElwaynTickets: $350 and up from Amanda Garrett, 303-863-1200 or amanda@Children’sDiabetesFoundation.orgnWhen: Oct. 2, 2015nWhere: Hyatt Regency Convention Center, 650 15th St., DenvernStarring: Usher, One Republic and surprise guestsnn