Some 150 children and teenagers throughout the U.S., and several from around the world have been selected to travel to Washington, D.C. this summer to represent their state and country and remind Congress and the Administration of the critical need to find a cure for a disease they live with every day: type 1 (or juvenile) diabetes.
Representing the Metro Saint Louis/Greater Missouri Chapter of JDRF are:* Mandy Schmidt (Age 6, diagnosed at 10 months - Manchester, MO)* Turner Rapp (Age 15, diagnosed at 10 - Ladue, MO)* Victoria Liu (Age 13, diagnosed at 5 ?Frontenac, MO)* Lizzie Kurowski (Age 15, diagnosed at 14 - Swansea, Ill)
These children - ages 4 to 17, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and all diagnosed with type 1 diabetes - will converge on Washington, D.C., to tell their stories and urge lawmakers to help find a cure during the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Children's Congress 2009, from June 22 to 24. Joining these children in Washington, D.C. will be six International Delegates from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Greece and the United Kingdom, who will partner with U.S. delegates to convey a clear message to the U.S. government that diabetes is a global problem that requires a global effort.
The event, held every other summer, will be led by JDRF's International Chairman Mary Tyler Moore, and will include Congressional visits by the child delegates and a Senate hearing where Ms. Moore, select delegates, researchers, and business and community leaders will testify on the need for continued funding for research on diabetes and its complications. Ms. Moore and the child delegates, under the theme of "Promise to Remember Me," will ask Members of Congress to support an increase in federal funding for diabetes research. |
