Applications for JDRF 2019 Children’s Congress are currently being accepted now through November 30 at 11:59 PM Eastern!

JDRF Children’s Congress, our highest profile advocacy event, is held every two years in the nation’s capital. Next year’s event will take place from July 8 – 10, 2019. The event will include more than 160 children, ages 4 to 17, from across the nation and around the world who will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with Members of Congress and participate in activities to educate the nation’s top lawmakers and staff about type 1 diabetes (T1D).

JDRF Children’s Congress has been essential to securing continued government funding for T1D research, as well as raising awareness of the daily burden of T1D for Americans living with this serious autoimmune disease. As participants in JDRF 2019 Children’s Congress, Delegates will have a unique and empowering opportunity to help Federal lawmakers understand what life with T1D is like, and how research will one day help us create a world without T1D. Delegates will impart firsthand the importance of renewing the $150 million per year Special Diabetes Program (SDP), as well as ensuring that Medicare covers revolutionary devices like artificial pancreas (AP) systems, which will pave the way for the next generation of diabetes-related technologies.

In addition to being critically important, the work that Delegates do is also extremely gratifying. The trip doesn’t end when Delegates leave Washington, D.C. Delegates will form lifelong friendships, meet JDRF’s T1D Role Models, develop leadership skills, and leave Children’s Congress as empowered advocates to use their voices to inspire change that will improve not only their lives, but the lives of all people impacted by T1D.

Please take time to learn more about JDRF 2019 Children’s Congress and APPLY TODAY to represent our Chapter in Washington, D.C., or share this information with a child living with T1D whose story would make a lasting impact on Capitol Hill and beyond.

Our 2017 JDRF Children’s Congress Bay Area Delegates tell us why you should apply:

My favorite part about being a delegate was talking with my representatives which made me feel like I was playing an important role in helping to find a cure. I recommend applying to JDRF’s Children Congress because you be with Type 1 Diabetics from around the country advocating for research funding which is getting us closer to a cure. – Avery Reller

Children’s Congress was truly a life changing experience and completely enhanced my view of those managing the complications of living with diabetes and those working to ultimately find a cure. – Carter Mosher

I really liked meeting a variety of different kids with type one diabetes especially since we were all together for the same cause. Kids with T1D should apply because it truly makes a difference in the lives of everyone with type one diabetes. It’s a great experience for kids who want to make an impact. – Chase Urban

My favorite part of participating in Children’s Congress for the JDRF was definitely having the opportunity to meet such a diverse group of people who all have Type 1 Diabetes. It really allowed me to talk to some people who share the same struggles as I do. I encourage people who are on the fence in regards to joining the Children’s Congress to do it because of how unique of an experience it is; where else could you meet so many type 1 diabetics? – Joey Hagan

From meeting other kids my age thriving with type 1 diabetes, to sharing my personal story with JDRF President and CEO Derek Rapp, to making the “ask” to California Senators Harris and Feinstein’s representatives, being a Children’s Congress delegate inspired me to embrace my diabetes and advocate for my worldwide community with the condition. I highly recommend that children of all ages with type 1 diabetes apply to be a 2019 delegate, for it is truly the experience of a lifetime. – Nikhita Gopisetty