Today I want to call attention to an opportunity to help in May to end the disease, diabetes.

Here’s the scoop from Brenda Novak, a NYTimes best-selling author:

The 5th Annual On-line Auction for Diabetes Research will open May 1st and run through the month. We’re currently gathering items and plan to make this auction the biggest and the best ever. Last year, we raised $252,300. We hope to break $300,000 this year.

Every year, I offer an amazing prize package to the person who places the highest number of bids over all, whether said person actually wins any items or not. This year, I’ve scoured the Internet and looked through all the stores, trying to decide just what it will be–and I decided to offer the new giant touch screen Hewlett Packard computer that has done away with the tower and is completely wireless. This is such an amazing system, I stood at Costco for at least 30 minutes lusting over it. I would love to have it myself. It’s a $1300 value before tax, so get your bidding fingers ready! Last year, Mary McCoy won the prize package, which included a brand new Camcorder (retail value of at least $1,000), Her Name In My Next Book, an autographed copy of TRUST ME (on sale now!), and some chocolates. Her name will appear in THE PERFECT MURDER, out October 2009.

Recent changes: Because the auction has grown too large to effectively manage as a third-party fundraiser, I had to file the paperwork to become my own non-profit. I was putting in more hours than I could afford to take away from my writing and my family and needed to hire some help. This was the only way to do it. As a result, some overhead is now taken out of the funds I raise. I carefully watch every expense, making sure that each one is absolutely vital to the running of the charity so that as much money as possible goes to the research this auction is supposed to support. The expenses (the hired help, the auction tool itself, postage, letterhead and other supplies, fees for accepting Mastercard, Paypal and Visa, and what advertising I can’t get donated) run no more than 10%. I take nothing for myself.

I’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to my co-sponsors for this year: Harlequin Enterprises, Publisher’s Weekly, RT Book Review Magazine and Writer’s Digest Magazine for their generous support of my efforts. PAYMENT OPTIONS for the 2009 auction: Paypal, credit card, check or money order.

(Please check individual listings to be sure whether or not shipping is included. However, buyer will be responsible for all shipping charges on anything that needs to be shipped out of the United States.)”

Again this year, I am donating a gift basket (see below) . Please go to http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/ and bid.