By Robbie Powell

Fist bump…or terrorist fist jab? That was the question America wanted to know over the summer.

That was also the question that landed me a spot on the NBC national news. You see, after Barack and Michelle Obama did it after the primaries, almost every single journalist in the U.S. wanted to know the greeting’s origin. Of course, being a teenager from Conway, I just thought of it as a less-formal handshake, or something we always did on my sports teams. So over the summer, when President Bush held out his fist, I gladly bumped it back.
You see, on July 1 I had the privilege of greeting President Bush at the Little Rock National Airport. It was one of the greatest days of my life, but it was all because of a very bittersweet thing.
“THE” Julia Lee Moore Elementary School, as my dad used to call it, was the place that I first met Ben Patterson. Like every first-day kindergartener, I was eager to make some new friends. So on the playground on the first day, I was running around, asking people names, chasing the girls, all of the good stuff.
As I slid down the slide, one kid caught my eye. He had a helmet on, but he was just acting like all of the other kids. So I walked over and just started to hang out with him. As far as I can remember, we were best friends since. I would see him at recess, go to his house, and help him with schoolwork all the way up until his death on Aug. 14, 2007.
When Ben died, I wanted to do something to keep his legacy going. So I founded the Live 4 Ben campaign. So far we have raised over $4,000 with all of the proceeds going to NBIA.
And a lot of people have asked me why I did it. I just wanted to help out a friend who impacted my life forever.

Robbie Powell received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his work to raise money and awareness for Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation. His friend, Ben Patterson, was diagnosed with the rare neurological disorder.