Highlighted in Forbes in 2012 as one of five "All-Star" organizations based on efficiency and recognized as an accredited charity by the Better Business Bureau, JDRF seems to be the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and seeks to ultimately cure T1D.  In 2012 alone, JDRF provided more than $110 million to T1D research. More than 80 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and research-related education.

This year, the children will take to Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to continue funding T1D research through the Special Diabetes Program (SDP). This federal program currently provides $150 million per year specifically for diabetes research to the National Institutes of Health. SDP funding has made possible some of the most important advances in T1D research in the last several years, and it is essential to maintaining JDRF’s momentum in finding life-changing treatments and a cure for T1D.

Children’s Congress will kick off on Monday, July 8 with the delegates performing their anthem, “Promise to Remember Me” with JDRF Celebrity Advocate Crystal Bowersox. On Tuesday, the delegates will attend Town Hall and sit down with several JDRF celebrity delegates, adult role models that have succeeded with T1D for years. On the final day, delegations from all 50 states and D.C. will meet with members of Congress and/or Congressional staff members, where they will discuss the issues most important to the T1D community. Renewing the SDP funding is at the top of the list.

For more information on the delegates’ mission and JDRF, visit www.jdrf.org