Walking to Promote Recovery - by Mary Kemp (intern)

On Sunday, February 21st, I had the opportunity to participate in a walk to raise money for the F.R.E.E.D Foundation. It was a 3.6-mile walk around the AU campus and the surrounding areas. I was super excited to participate and help raise money for this amazing organization. This foundation does a lot of work on the Hill to hopefully get the F.R.E.E.D Act passed. It also raises money for patients who cant afford treatment. Kathleen, the director of F.R.E.E.D, was there and gave a speech before the walk began. She has a beautiful survival story about her road to recovery that was truly inspiring and had many of us in tears. The group that participated in the walk was a mixture of people. There were many people present who used to have an eating disorder and others that were at the very beginning of their recovery. Other people knew a family member or friend who either suffered from or died from an eating disorder. And then there were people who just wanted to support the cause. Regardless of why people were there, it was amazing to see how many people came out for the event, especially since it was the first walk organized on campus. The organizer of the walk is Jacquie Chamberlain. I had a chance to meet her during the walk and talk about her story. She is also a survivor of an eating disorder and even has an amazing blog, Sweetest Thing DC. This blog tells her story and is a great guide to healthy living and education on eating disorders, especially about body image in the media. Needless to say, I met a lot of amazing people at the walk. Participating in events like this is always an awarding experience and always inspires me to keep learning more and keep trying to be active in the spread of eating disorder awareness. Hopefully I will keep in touch with Jacquie and continue to be an active participant in other events such as this on the AU campus and other events to support Kathleen and the F.R.E.E.D Foundation. :)