After holding her second successful fundraiser to help diabetes research, 11-year-old McKenzie Bronken has raised nearly $12,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Holding a drive-thru benefit dinner on Sept. 27, McKenzie and her family worked hard to bring the community together to combat the disease.

“It went really well,” said McKenzie Bronken. “I had fun doing it, and I’m excited for the Walk for a Cure walk.”

On Oct. 6, McKenzie and her supporters will held up to the State Capitol in Sacramento where McKenzie will have the honor of cutting the ribbon as thousands of people come together to fight juvenile diabetes.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone for helping me and coming out to support me,” said McKenzie. “There were a lot of businesses who donated. It was great.”

Last year, McKenzie raised a total of $6,518. Nearly doubling the amount this year, McKenzie says that helping fund diabetes research is something she plans to do for a long time.

“I really want to find a cure for diabetes and I want to do this every year until a cure is found,” she said.

Her father, Bob Bronken, said that he couldn’t be more proud of his little girl’s dedication and the support of the community.

“McKenzie is doing a great job helping raise money for the JDRF,” said Bronken. “Since she raised the most money, she’ll be getting to cut the ribbon at the Walk for a Cure event at the State Capitol. But we couldn’t have done this without the support of our great community. Everyone in Turlock has been so supportive, and it just continues to floor me how many people have come out to help.”