Greetings! My heartfelt thanks and recognition go out to all those who lift and serve the mission of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). I read this quote earlier today by Martin Luther King Jr., and thought it was a great place to begin to frame my note to you:

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.

COVID has taught us many things—and one of the major lessons is how intertwined we all are, how much we need one another, and how much better and fuller our lives are when we are living in support, with encouragement and compassion for one another. Through your dynamic energy and continual engagement in our communities, you play a critical role in increasing awareness, feeding hope, providing support and raising much-needed funds to make our work possible.

You are engaged and energized! In Q1 2020, people all over the country, in 93 communities strong, were planning to gather at NEDA Walks to provide awareness, education and support around eating disorders. And then, COVID hit, preventing us from coming together in person but reminding us that education, awareness and support were more important than ever for our community. Our devoted and talented staff quickly pivoted to developing innovative virtual programming and, with the support of our community-based volunteers, we were able to deliver this programming throughout 2020 and now into 2021. While we are eager to resume our in person programming, we have learned that virtual programming allows us to broaden our reach and deepen our impact. A good example of this is our recently completed and highly-successful virtual Walks directed in the West, Central and East by our incredible volunteers, each of which brought messages of resilience and hope to our community and raised funds to allow us to continue to provide support and resources to our community. We are so proud of and thankful for the 228 teams and 1,440 individuals/captains who are powering our Walks and local fundraising and outreach efforts.

Thank you for giving us your gifts of intelligence, energy, insights, connection, empathy and understanding. You power our mission and together we are #NEDAStrong! ⁣ ⁣

Sincerely,⁣

Geoff Craddock⁣, NEDA, Board Chair