President Bush personally thanks Conway student for volunteer efforts

Robbie Powell wears a green silicone bracelet on his wrist to not only remember his best friend, but to remember to live life to the fullest.

And now, after traveling to Little Rock in Air Force One to present Robbie with the President's Volunteer Service Award, President George W. Bush wears one, too.

The president immediately placed the bracelet that read "Live 4 Ben" on his wrist after personally thanking the Bob Courtway Middle School student for his efforts in raising money and awareness for neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation. The eighth-grader's friend, Ben Patterson, was diagnosed with the rare neurological movement disorder years ago.

"I started selling the bracelets last September, about a month after Ben passed away, and I started by selling them at my school for $3 and then I sold them at the high school football games with all proceeds going to NBIA," Robbie Powell said Tuesday. "I thought it would only raise about $1,000, but now we're up to $2,000 and still selling."

Although Robbie Powell said he is not sure who nominated him for the presidential award, he was honored to have had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of shaking hands with the president.

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"I'm still really waiting for it to sink it," he said after the event. "I was surprised at how long he stayed and talked to me because I know he's busy. He was just really cool and kind of laid back."

The young boy wore the medal given to him by the president with pride but said his goal is much bigger than being recognized for his work.

"The president is like the highest ranked person in the world, and it's a great opportunity to get to meet him, but I'm also glad because it's going to be so good for NBIA," Robbie Powell said. "Most people who bought a bracelet had never heard of it, so we're really raising awareness."

Along with Robbie Powell and a group of local and state officials, the president also met the boy's parents, Danny and Sloan Powell, and his sister, Gigi Powell, a third-grader at Julia Lee Moore Elementary School.

Gigi Powell has been an instrumental part of the campaign by selling bracelets to the students and teachers at her school, but also by lending support to her brother. "I still really can't believe it because everything he does for NBIA has been really good," she said. "He never really set out to win an award, he just wanted to help other kids and he didn't want a lot of other parents to go through what Ben's parents had to go through."

Robbie Powell first met his best friend in kindergarten and he said they became good friends quickly and he would visit Ben at home once a week.

"You could tell he was just a normal guy on the inside who liked to tell jokes and laugh a lot and he loved Spongebob," he said with a smile.

Although the 12-year-old said he just saw it as a great friendship, Bill Patterson, Ben's father, said what Robbie did for Ben was priceless and the presidential award was well-deserved.

"He's an outstanding young man and most of all a true, dear friend to Ben, regardless of everything that came after with the campaign and the fundraiser he was a friend first," he said.

Bill Patterson said having his son's best friend over not only made the young boy happy, it also gave his parents a break.

"Robbie would come over and sit with him and play and they'd watch Spongebob together so Kim and I could go get a drink of water or pick up the morning paper," he said. "He could've been going out doing a lot of other things, but he was at our house with Ben."

The Volunteer Service Award was also presented to Robbie Powell for his work with the Conway Braves, a local baseball team founded by the Pattersons that is specifically for kids with special needs.

"Each kid usually has a buddy and the buddies would help them bat, get around the bases and, in Ben's case, run the bases and throw the ball and I was his buddy for about four years," he said.

Robbie Powell and Ben's older brother, Will Patterson, a 2008 Conway High School graduate, were recently honored for the help they offered to the team this season, despite the fact that Ben was not there.

"I feel like I kind of have something to give back to the team because I had such a great time helping Ben," Robbie Powell said.

Because school is out for summer and it's not quite football season, those interested in purchasing the green Live 4 Ben bracelets at $3 each should send an e-mail to the Powell family at live4ben@conwaycorp.net.

(Staff writer Jessica Bauer can be reached by e-mail at jessica.bauer@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)