FRANKLIN—A group of women on a mission to raise money and awareness about juvenile diabetes earned nearly $900 in two hours by selling barbecue lunches on Friday.

“We sold down to the last pound,” said Pat Hatfield, carrying leftovers out to her car outside East Pavilion.

Hatfield’s grandson, Ryan Edwards, suffers from juvenile diabetes. He is the son of Burdette residents Brett and Sandy Edwards, the home and healthcare hospice director at East Pavilion.

Ryan was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 3 years old.

“He was taking up to eight shots a day and getting 10 finger pricks, but now he wears an insulin pump to maintain his blood sugar level,” Edwards said.

Planners of the event raised $842 by selling 25 pounds of barbecue donated by David’s Market in Hunterdale. The barbecue was made into sandwiches and each sack lunch sold for $5.

“(The money is) for research to improve treatment for diabetes,” Edwards said. “We want to improve the treatment so we can be free of needles and pricks and so we can find a cure.”

Kirby Kirkland with the activities department said she was encouraged by the amount of support the fundraiser garnered.

“We sold 121 lunches,” Kirkland said. “People came from all departments of the hospital. There was a lot of support hospital wide.”

All proceeds from the sale were donated to the Diabetes Research Foundation.

Edwards said she planned to participate in a walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Association on Saturday in Virginia Beach. Her team was named “Ryan’s Racers.”