The La Quinta Resort & Club hosted its first garage sale as part of an effort to raise awareness for the fourth annual American Diabetes Association's Step Out Walk in La Quinta.

The garage sale, held Saturday in the resort parking lot, consisted of donations from the resort, its employees and residents, as well as customized hats that featured the resort or PGA West logo in the ADA logo.

More than $1,800 raised at the sale will go toward the ADA, a national association that funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes, said Danyse Bagley, director of Human Resources at the resort.

“We chose to partner up with ADA because we felt it was a fantastic cause that affected somebody we all knew that was either affected by it directly or had a family member, friend or coworker living with this disease,” said Bob Buttaro, director of marketing and communications at the resort.

According to the ADA, 24million people in the United States have been diagnosed with diabetes.

“And it hits a community like ours more because of the diverse ethnicity we have here in the desert,” said Leslie Pepper, Coachella Valley market manager for the ADA.

“We have our battle cut out for us.”

That's why the local ADA, which has had a presence in the desert for nearly five years, is seeking to encourage more people to participate in the Step Out Walk, a 5K walk that begins at the La Quinta Community Center.

Registration to participate in the walk is free, though donations are suggested as the local branch of the group aims to raise $50,000.

The resort/PGA West team has already raised more than $7,000 for the walk with their eyes set on raising a total of $10,000, Bagley said.

In addition to partnering with the resort, for the first time this year, the local Step Out Walk will include The Red Strider Program.

Anyone who participates in the walk and wants to disclose that they have diabetes may sign up for The Red Strider Program and receive a free hat and backpack, Pepper said.

“We're trying to put a face on who we are working to find a cure for,” she said of the program.

The event will also feature a mini health fair that will provide testing onsite for a variety of issues, including blood pressure and glucose, Pepper said.

“Very few people don't have a parent, sibling, child or neighbor that has diabetes,” she said. “This is not a disease that affects just a handful of people, and we want to educate people on it, prevent it and, if you have it, teach you what you can do about it.”