07/08/2009

By DEBBY ABE  / Associated Press

Eleven-year-old Drew Pepin of Tacoma will have the coolest response ever when people ask what he did over summer vacation. He met President Barack Obama.

Drew reports Obama has a strong handshake, and the sixth-grader added, "He was very, very tall."

Drew and his parents, Kim and Scott Pepin, and 14-year-old sister Ally, recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where the boy was among 150 youths throughout the country at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Children's Congress.

Drew is a student at Narrows View Intermediate School in University Place. He was chosen as a Washington state delegate based on his letter describing his life with Type 1 juvenile diabetes and his efforts to raise money for diabetes research, including putting together a fun-walk team.

In Washington, D.C., he and fellow delegates advocated for research into a cure for type 1 juvenile diabetes by meeting with their state's congressional delegations, attending a congressional hearing on diabetes research and other activities.

For Drew, the highlight was the group's 15-minute visit to the White House.

On June 23, the young delegates gathered on the famous South Lawn for a photo with the commander in chief. But first Obama shook hands with the visitors.

"It was crazy," Drew said Tuesday. "I couldn't believe I was shaking his hand. I couldn't believe I was meeting the president."

When they lined up for the picture, the grinning president warned the kids not to stand behind him or they wouldn't be seen. Then, Obama turned around to 5-foot-tall Drew, who was on the riser directly behind the president, and said, "Except for you. We'll be able to see you in the picture."

"He was really nice," Drew said. "There was no sense of him not enjoying his time there. He was smiling the whole time, and he was interacting with the kids."