(WKBW) — Emily Dickey's entering her junior year at Lancaster High School. She loves to dance, and she volunteers with JDRF the leading organization funding Type I diabetes research.
"I enjoy volunteering for them because I have been impacted with diabetes since I was five years old," she said. "I like to support them so that we can hopefully have a cure in the future."
She was selected to be part of JDRF's Children's Congress. The group of over 150 children from all across the country will meet with congressmen to help them udnerstand the impact of Type I diabetes. She applied with her dad, and now they're taking part in a JDRF social media campaign to raise awareness before heading to DC.
Emily's not the only Western New York teen heading down to DC next week.
Ben Cornell, 14, of Bemus Point was selected to go to DC too. He was so eager to be part of Children's Congress that he applied a few years ago and wasn't picked because he was too newly diagnosed and not yet as involved in JDRF. He said JDRF has three goals: get Congress to extend it's Special Diabetes Program, lower insulin prices, and raise awareness.
"A lot of people struggle with Type I diabetes, and really if we provide enough funding, and really work hard we could end this disease," he said.
A goal Dickey, Cornell, and the rest of Children's Congress will work towards next week in the nation's capital.
