Charlie Glenwright, age 16 from Palo Alto, John Hanley, age 15 from San Francisco, Delilah Marrocco, age 10 from Ross, and Louise Marshall, age 16 from Danville, shared a once-in-a-lifetime experience this summer. In between meeting kids from around the country and celebrity role models, they lobbied Members of Congress to urge continued federal government support for research that aims to reduce the burden of the disease they have all lived with—type 1 diabetes (T1D)—until a cure becomes available.

Charlie, John, Delilah and Louise were among more than 150 children—ages 4 to 17, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia—who visited the nation’s capital as delegates at JDRF 2015 Children’s Congress, held July 13-15. They were chosen through JDRF Bay Area from a pool of more than 1,500 applicants nationwide to represent California at this biennial event. We are extremely proud of these four kids!

JDRF Children’s Congress, the largest grassroots event held in support of research for T1D, culminated with a congressional committee hearing on July 15, which included testimony from selected delegates. The focus of these personal testimonies was to draw attention to the daily struggles of those living with the disease, and the need for maintained support for funding research that brings us closer to a world without T1D.

Click here to read Delilah’s blog about her experience at Children’s Congress.

Click here to read John’s blog about his experience at Children’s Congress.

About Children’s Congress
The JDRF Children’s Congress program was inspired by then-eight-year-old Tommy Solo from Massachusetts in 1999. He overheard adult JDRF volunteers talking about going to Washington, D.C. to talk to Congress, and thought it would be great if children could go, too, because their voices also needed to be heard. JDRF Children’s Congress inspires lawmakers to remember the children who live with T1D when making decisions about medical research funding and voting on other important federal government issues relating to diabetes. The young delegates’ personal stories, told in their own words, are often more powerful than almost any other type of education a legislator might receive.

Tommy’s idea quickly became a well-developed event, first held in 1999. Since then, nine successful Children’s Congresses have been held, growing in scope each time, every other year (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015).Today, JDRF Children’s Congress brings more than 150 children with T1D, who attend with one parent or guardian, to Washington, D.C. JDRF Children’s Congress participants represent all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and several countries around the world. They come together as advocates to meet on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and other key federal policymakers to help educate them about the critical need for federal funding for T1D research.

To learn more about JDRF Children’s Congress, please visit http://cc.jdrf.org/.