California, Feb 2 (IANS): This Valentine's, donate the value of one rose to spare the life of a child suffering from diabetes.

By doing this, you spread smile on the faces of children around the world, says Manny Hernandez, president of Diabetes Hands Foundation in Berkley, California.

For the second consecutive year, the Foundation, along with Diabetes Online Community (DOC), have begun 'Spare a Rose, Save a Child' initiative in support of the International Diabetes Federation's (IDF) 'Life for a Child' programme that provides life-saving diabetes supplies to children in developing countries.

The introduction of 'Spare a Rose' last year was met with great enthusiasm among the online community. It raised over $3,000 in just one week.

"This year, we hope even more people - both within and outside of DOC - would participate," said a press release from Diabetes Hands Foundation.

The initiative encourages people to buy the typical dozen roses popular on Valentine's Day and donate the value of one rose to spare the life of a child. The initiative runs Feb 1-14.

DOC members would feature 'Spare a Rose, Save a Child' banner ad on their respective web sites in addition to blogging, tweeting and posting on Facebook in an effort to raise money and awareness for this cause.

According to the IDF, there are nearly 371 million people in the world living with diabetes, and among them are about 490,000 children with type 1 diabetes under age 15.