Pali High Student Fights for Diabetes Funding in D.C.

By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter

The fact that Jessica Garff, 17, has type 1 diabetes does not stop her from being enrolled in AP classes at Palisades Charter High School. If she’s not in class, she can be found at her orchestra practice behind her violin. 

If she isn’t sight reading music, she is on a tennis court competing or hard at work at a local coffee shop saving up for her upcoming travels.

In September, Jessica will be traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of congress to advocate for type 1 diabetes research funding as part of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Children Congress in Washington, D.C., program.

After being diagnosed with diabetes at age 10 and accompanying her mother, Wendy Garff, to Washington, D.C., who was already hard at work advocating for research funding, Jessica applied to the program multiple times before being accepted from a pool of over 1,000.

“At first it was really difficult because I didn’t really know how to deal with it,” Jessica said. “It was like a constant stress and there’s already so much stress in high school.”

The stress weighed heavy on Wendy as well, who was struggling to find a balance.

“No matter what we did she still ended up having a seizure one night because she had overdosed her insulin on accident,” Wendy said.

After the incident, Jessica used it as fuel to continue her work and guide others with a similar diagnosis, gaining national recognition for her efforts. 

Jessica and her fellow advocates are now seeking to insure the funding for a special diabetes program that provides close to $150 million a year for type 1 diabetes research. 

The spending bill, which expires on September 30, usually gets passed, Wendy said, but seeing who the bill will effect ensures the members of congress don’t overlook it. 

“I’m really proud of her. I’ve gone to D.C. to advocate for type 1 before and I was amazed how much a difference it made to have her there,” Wendy said. 

When asked why she chose to begin advocating for research and treatment funding, Jessica said, “I’ve always been interested in government and politics and I became interested in medicine because I had to be my own doctor. When I heard about people dying because they couldn’t afford insulin or receive insurance because of their condition, that really bothered me.”