The Independence Day celebration at Bone Island Grill at Crooked Creek Marina on Lake Sinclair brought in thousands of dollars in proceeds to help two charities that aim to help children diagnosed with diabetes exercise their own independence.

The Lake Country Freedom Festival, which was held Sunday at Crooked Creek Marina, brought in close to 6,000 or 7,000 attendees and raised nearly $15,000 in proceeds that will be donated toward Camp Kudzu and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Nancy Mozzone, event organizer and sister to Crooked Creek Marina owners John and Mike Jansen, said the event would not have been possible without the wonderful support from her brothers.

“It was truly and totally amazing,” said Mozzone. “The owners of Crooked Creek deserve so much credit and that’s one of the things that really drove me to do my best. It’s because of the people they are. Just knowing how awesome my brothers are and that they strive for the best.”

Mozzone, whose own son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, understands the importance of raising money for the cause, as her own son attended Camp Kudzu and the experience helped her just as much    

The camp allows kids diagnosed with diabetes to attend a summer program geared toward their health needs while at the same time, giving them the opportunity to experience summer camp activities. JDRF helps to raise money to fund research for a possible cure for Type I Diabetes and fund new technologies to improve the lives of those living with the disease.

Mozzone said the number of people that attended this year’s event surprised her.

“There were probably about 2,500 people last year,” she said. “And so that’s what gave the owners the idea to take advantage of it and pick a charity. We were estimating three to five thousand and six to seven thousand people came out. It was wall-to-wall people. I think my vendors were surprised.”

Mozzone said she was impressed by the turnout and has every intention of continuing the event each year for many years to come.

“For being a first-year event, everything went incredibly, incredibly well,” she said.

“This is destined to become the premiere charitable event in middle Georgia. And we’re planning on doing it every year. Any volunteers interested in helping out with next year’s event can sign up now.”

Knowing that she was able to help her son and others who have type one diabetes made the day that much sweeter, said Mozzone.

“My son, he’s the one that has type I diabetes,” she said. “It just made my heart, you know, it brought tears to my eyes. To be able to do something that will help my son live a better life and perhaps find a cure.”

Updates to the Lake Country Freedom Festival website should be posted sometime in the next week, said Mozzone, so festival-goers should be on the lookout for new pictures and updates at www.lakecountryfreedomfestival.com

Additionally, for more information about Camp Kudzu or JDRF, please visit

www.CampKudzu.org and www.JDRF.org .

For more information about the July 4 event at Crooked Creek Marina, please visit www.LakeCountryFreedomFestival.com or e-mail Mozzone at

nancy@LakeCountryFreedomFestival.com.