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Ripples of hope warmed our hearts in Minneapolis Friday night at the WithAll Gala Fundraiser. Kitty Westin gave her most compelling speech yet in my humble opinion. Of all the times I’ve had the privilege of hearing my dear friend and brave, warrior momma, Kitty speak about her brave daughter Anna Westin and the changes made by a small group of committed citizens, this was the most authentic and hope instilling speech yet.  It is hard to fathom how Kitty takes the story of her dear Anna dying from an eating disorder and sends ripples of hope into the hearts of the rapt audience. But she did it again and people were compelled to support the efforts of this foundation which originally began in Anna’s name 20 years ago right after Anna lost her battle with ed.

The event center was filled and new families are wanting more information to help prevent eating disorders in their kids who are bombarded with harmful messages about food and movement. These families get it that these messages can lead to life threatening eating disorders. And they want to help be the change by helping provide education about eating disorders prevention! It’s so exciting to see and gives me hope that maybe we’re starting to see a shift.

In the spirit of education, please share this free webinar on self-care happening Monday March 9th at 8pm EST for family caregivers. This is thanks to our sponsor,  Monte Nido and Affiliates, I’ll be co-presenting with Bridget McCauley, LPC of Clementine, The Woodlands, TX. You can share this link for the Family Webinar: Putting Your Oxygen Mask On First: Self-Care For Caregivers with others and register here as well.  Please register now as registration is required.

During this 20th anniversary year more things are happening to honor Anna’s legacy. The Revised Second Edition of my book, “Just Tell Her To Stop: Family Stories of Eating Disorders” will be released this year containing Kitty and Anna’s updated story with the exciting passage of the Anna Westin Act. Thank you Caryn Sullivan for sharing a piece of Kitty and Anna’s story in your Op-Ed Column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press! We appreciate you helping create more awareness about these deadly disorders that take the lives of at least 23 people every day. It’s so hard to get the message out that people of all sizes, shapes, colors, genders, ages, etc can develop life threatening eating disorders. Having this story out there helps raise awareness.

Thank you to all previous and current clients who’ve taken the survey already! If you’ve not yet taken it, please take 10 minutes today so we can move forward to apply for research to start shifting the paradigm to always providing support for the family caregivers when a loved one has an eating disorder.