Eli Overa.
Provided to the QAM News
Five students from Washington were chosen by JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, to join a delegation of their peers and celebrity advocates in Washington, D.C., this summer at JDRF 2023 Children’s Congress from July 9-11.
Eli Overa, 13, Grace Pilo, 17, Natalie McNichols, 8, Safa Ali, 8, and Wesley McNutt, 17, will join more than 160 other youths from across the country to meet with their members of Congress and other key decision-makers to inform them of the critical role they can play in supporting the T1D community.
Overa is from Magnolia. He loves science and social studies. He likes to spend his free time outdoors, playing golf, hiking, and camping. Eli is a patrol leader in his Boy Scout troop and plans to become an Eagle Scout in the next few years. His goals for the future include getting his pilot’s license, attending law school after college, and one day running for office so he can support healthcare issues.
Throughout the event, these young people —ages 4 to 17— will participate in leadership and character-building programming, interact with T1D role models, and engage in a number of activities on the Hill, including attending a Senate hearing to share personal testimonies that highlight the challenges of living with T1D and the need for continued Federal funding through the Special Diabetes Program (SDP).
Joining the U.S. delegates will be five international delegates traveling from Australia, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Together, the delegates will help to convey to the government that T1D is a global issue that requires a global response.
“Every day these youth and their parents face the burden of type 1 diabetes and — by sharing their stories — they become powerful advocates in the fight to end this disease,” said Sean McParland, Executive Director. “Children’s Congress empowers the T1D youth community to speak with a unified voice to urge federal leaders to help us achieve affordable insulin and to continue funding the Special Diabetes Program.”
Overa and his family have been active in One Walk for many years, and recently Eli was selected as one of two ambassadors for the 40th anniversary of his local One Walk, which gave him the opportunity to speak to corporate teams about his experiences living with T1D.
“I wanted to teach people about T1D, what it is like to live with it and how someone is diagnosed with T1D. I really liked telling my story.”