Successful Eating Disorders Awareness Day at the Capitol!
Updated at March 01, 2010 15:08Many thanks to everyone who participated in the 2nd Annual Eating Disorders Awareness Day which was held Tuesday, February 2, at the Missouri State Capitol Building–Jefferson City, MO–The Rotunda. If you missed the day, please try to attend next year. Every year, the event gets better and more powerful. It is a great opportunity to educate elected officials about eating disorders and demonstrate that this bill is important to Missouri citizens.
I’d like to thank our speakers who inspired us and empowered us: Rebecca Lester, Katie Seal, Tara Osseck (Miss Missouri 2009), Jessica Sullivan (Miss Springfield 2009) and John Culp all reminded us of why this legislation is so important. Our legislative sponsors, Representative Rachel Storch, Representative Rick Stream and Senator David Pearce, talked about the process and encouraged us to keep educating elected officials about this disease. Getting a bill passed takes consistency, effort and commitment and while we are well on the way to success, we must keep up the pressure.
We currently have 34 co-sponsors for the house bill, which is amazing progress. Last session we had 9 co-sponsors!
Following are some of the exciting outcomes from this year’s Eating Disorders Awareness day.
- We had representation from Warrensburg, Springfield, Lexington, St. Louis and Kansas City.
- We proved to legislators that eating disorders is a state-wide disease.
- We have many more Representatives and Senators evaluating the bill, which means they have been moved to action.
- We will be following up with them to persuade them to support the bill.
Many thanks to Michelle Zignago who generously donated her time to develop the flyers and ED Awareness Day Stickers! Michelle also donated her time last year and provided us with professional and impactful materials throughout the session.
Support Eating Disorders Legislation! Eating disorders are misunderstood , stigmatized and not treated seriously. Insurance does not provide fair coverage or access to treatment. Yet eating disorders have the highest fatality rate of any mental illness. We must show legislators this issue is important! Meet with your state Representative and Senator to let them know why this legislation is important to you. Please know who your state reps are. Go to www.mo.gov for the legislator lookup.
We need your help to show legislators there is a real need for assistance for those suffering from eating disorders.
For more information contact annieseal@sbcglobal.net