Gilbert Lookingland knew there was
something wrong a couple of years ago
with his 10-year-old daughter, Mackenzie.
He just couldn’t figure out what.
She had been losing weight and having
repeated headaches but Gilbert wasn’t
buying into the theories of friends that
she was just too active in sports.
A visit to the doctor showed that Mackenzie
had ketones, the byproduct of
the body breaking down sugar, racing
through her blood and her organs were at
risk. She was hospitalized three days. The
young girl had Type 1 diabetes.
But Gil, who works in chemical and
biological monitoring for MDE’s Science field office, has done a lot more since
then than just helping Mackenzie live
with diabetes. During the work week,
Gil has been intimately involved in some
of MDE’s most important work over the
years on the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and
oversees drinking water collection in
Harford County.
True to his lengthy history of volunteering
for good causes, Gil swung into
action to assist young victims of diabetes.
He and his wife, Erin, an occupational
therapist for the Baltimore County
School System, joined the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation and Gil’s
talents as a deejay have helped the group
raise $10,000 a year in its "Wiggin’ Out
For a Cure" annual event in Baltimore.
Each participant in the event wears a
creative wig.
"It’s an exciting night full of pit beef,
oysters on the half shell, stew and beer
and we have a promo video that explains
new advances in technology as we get
closer and closer for a cure of diabetes,"
Gil said.
"My two other daughters, Morgan and
Moira, don’t appear to be at risk for
diabetes and we don’t have any other
instances of it in our family," Gil said.
"But we are constantly reminded of it
because Erin has to get up two or three
times a night to be with Mackenzie to
manage her blood glucose values."
Gil has used his deejay talents frequently
in doing good works for the Parish
Council at Our Lady of Mount Carmel
in Essex and local schools including fund
raisers, father-daughter dances, trunk or
treat events, shrimp and bull roasts and
fairs. He just finished coordinating and
deejaying his fifth annual chili festival at
the church.
"I guess it just comes naturally doing
the deejay thing since I love music and
speaking and many times I can hear the
first note of a song and know what it is,"
Gil said. "I’ve been doing it professionally
for 10 years now."
He also has the same passion and time
commitment for youth soccer and has
been coaching it in Baltimore County
for the past decade. At one point he was
coordinator for the Catholic Youth Organization
soccer program for kids in the
under-six and under-eight age groups.
Gil currently is involved with the Perry
Hall White Marsh 44 travel club teams.
"Our family has been blessed in so many
ways and it is important for us to give
back," Gil said.