Seventeen-Year-Old from Manhattan Beach to Represent California at JDRF 2015 Children's Congress

Seventeen-year-old Grace Walker of Manhattan Beach, California has big plans for this summer. She has been selected by JDRF to join 160 other children from around the country in Washington, D.C., to remind their members of Congress of the vital need to continue supporting research that aims to reduce the burden they all share of living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), until a cure becomes available.

These children—ages 4 to 17, and representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia—will visit the nation’s capital as delegates to JDRF 2015 Children’s Congress, to be held from July 13-15. Joining them will be six international delegates traveling from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. These international delegates will partner with U.S. delegates to convey a clear message to the federal government that T1D is a global problem that requires a global effort.

The event, which is held every other summer, will include congressional visits by the delegates and a congressional committee hearing, during which selected delegates and T1D celebrity advocates will testify on the need for continued funding for T1D research. These visits serve as a powerful call to our elected lawmakers to remember the struggle of all those living with the disease, and the importance of supporting and funding T1D research.

“These outstanding children and their families all understand, as I do as a father of a loved one with type 1 diabetes, that T1D tests us every day,” says Derek Rapp, JDRF President and CEO. “Children’s Congress gives all of us one voice to urge Congress to maintain its commitment to supporting research, which is essential to reducing the burden of this disease on us and on our country.”
Serving as chair for JDRF 2015 Children’s Congress will be Kimberly Roosevelt of Dallas, Texas, who attended JDRF 2009 Children’s Congress with her delegate daughter Elizabeth, now 13. As chair of the event, Kim will help engage, support, and energize all these delegates and their families during the advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.

Grace participated in a JDRF Walk about 10 years before she was even diagnosed with T1D—she walked to support her brother, who was diagnosed first. “We were the first members of our family to have type 1 diabetes, so it was a huge adjustment for all of us,” she says.” Grace plans to help mentor other kids with T1D at Camp Conrad–Chinnock this summer, volunteers with the JDRF Gala and has interned in the JDRF Los Angeles Chapter. A talented singer and actress, she has even depicted someone living with the disease on her school’s stage as Shelby in Steel Magnolias. “I strived to accurately portray her disease in the play,” she says. “It was important for the audience to understand those symptoms more accurately than they were portrayed in the movie.”

For a video of highlights from JDRF 2013 Children’s Congress, please click here.