JDRF 2017 Children’s Congress will take place on July 24-26, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

Every two years, more than 150 children living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) gather in Washington, D.C., to meet face-to-face with some of the top decision-makers in the U.S. government. The children, ages 4 to 17, represent all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The delegates in JDRF’s Children’s Congress enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help Members of Congress understand what life with T1D is like and why research to fund life-changing therapies until a cure can be found is so critical. They speak up on behalf of the millions of people living with T1D and the families and friends who love them.

This year, the Greater Iowa Chapter is fortunate to have 2 representatives for Children’s Congress: Corinne Gerhart and Tegan Rauser.

Corinne is in kindergarten and she enjoys swimming, dancing and creating her own books. She recently joined 4-H Clover Kids and signed up to be a Daisy Girl Scout. Corinne and her family started their own JDRF One Walk team last year called ‘Life is Sweet.’ Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor, Kim Reynolds, joined their team—and they raised more than $17,000 for life-changing T1D research. This year, they hoped to raise $30,000 but blew it out of the water raising a total of $53,000. Corinne has also served as a Youth Ambassador for her chapter’s JDRF Hope Gala—and likes giving presentations to students at her school to raise awareness about T1D. She says, “Living with type 1 diabetes is not fun. We have to check my blood a lot, which hurts. And I have to take insulin shots every time I eat.” See more

Last year, Tegan and more than 1,600 of her closest friends led the largest JDRF One Walk team in the Greater Iowa Chapter’s history and raised more than $166,000 for T1D research. She and her grandfather, Rick, co-chaired the event. Tegan also serves as one of the chapter’s Youth Ambassadors and as a Ride Ambassador for the chapter’s team. She has spoken at several corporate kick-off events and at her school as well, describing life with T1D. Tegan hopes to be a diabetes nurse when she grows up, unless a cure is found first, in which case she would like to be a chef. When she is not busy volunteering for JDRF, Tegan plays soccer, sings and bakes with her mom. See more