Volunteer Spotlight
Thank you to all of our talented, dedicated and generous volunteers!
Meet Our May Spotlight Volunteers
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Jenni Schaefer
Chair of NEDA's Ambassadors' Council
Jenni Schaefer is a singer/songwriter, speaker, and author of Life Without Ed and Goodbye Ed, Hello Me. When Jenni was sick with an eating disorder, her dad passed along NEDA"s Helpline as a resource. Today, fully recovered, Jennis is both honored and thriled to serve as the Chair of NEDA's Ambassadors' Council. For more information, please visit http://www.jennischaefer.com.
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Alie Fonseca
Dallas NEDA Walk Co-Coordinator
Alie Fonseca is an aspiring country artist who lives in Texas with her husband Bryan. After being in recovery from anorexia for 11 years, she decided to coordinate the first ever Dallas NEDA Walk as a way to give back to her community and spread awareness on eating disorders. "I want not only to raise awareness but also show that recovery is possible. Also, as an aspiring singer I feel passionate about setting a healthy example in an image based industry."
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Emily Glatt
Helpline Volunteer
"I feel tremendous fulfillment from from volunteering at NEDA. Not only has NEDA given me the chance to help others fight their eating disorders, it has helped my own personal recovery. Working for NEDA reminds me of why it is so important for me to be healthy and love myself from the inside out. I attibute this feeling to the wonderful and hard-working individuals that I work with, and the happiness I feel knowing that I have a role in helping an individual on the path to their own personal recovery and happiness."
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Rebecca Huber
Event Planning Volunteer
"My name is Rebecca and I am an Event Planning volunteer at NEDA. I am soon to graduate from Pratt Institute and my background is in fashion, where many of my interships dealt with model casting. I aim for my work with NEDA to help promote a fashion as fun and empowering, and campaigning to change aspects of the industry that do not propagate this mentality."
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Amanda Moore
Pennsylvannia NEDA Walk Coordinator
"Hi my name is Amanda Moore and I am 16 years old. I have been anorexic and bulimic for two years now. Planning a NEDA Walk helped me become honest about my eating disorder. Through my walk, I was able to raise awareness for eating disorders and the courage to start recovery. Planning a NEDA Walk may have helped save my life and someone else's."
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Meet Our April Spotlight Volunteers
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Paula Bruner
NEDA Navigator Volunteer
My name is Paula Bruner. My daughter Katie battled various ED for approximately 10 years. She lost her battle in 2010, at 26. One of Katie's goals was to reach out - share the importance of positive body image and the facts about eating disorders. As a Navigator I hope to continue Katie's mission.
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Aliza Kaye
Helpline Volunteer
Aliza Kaye has always been passionate helping others. As a psychology major, and a future social worker, she knows that people with eating disorders need professional help and therapy, but they aslo need someone who will simply listen, and talk to them about their struggles. Aliza is proud to call herslf a helpline volunteer. The most important lesson she has learned so far: All people, regardless of age, race, gender, or nationality, need love and support in order to live a happier and healthier life.
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Phoenix NEDA Walk Co-chairs Lori Price and Maggie Pingolt, and volunteer coordinator Varsha Prasad.
Congratulations to Lori Price and Maggie Pingolt for coordinating the first Phoenix NEDA Walk! With the help of their volunteer committee, they were able to exceed both their outreach and fundraising goals. On February 26th, 570 supporters of NEDA gathered at the Phoenix Zoo to walk to raise funds and awareness in the fight against eating disorders.
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Meet Our March Spotlight Volunteers
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Vic Avon
NEDA Navigator Program Volunteer
Vic Avon is a very outspoken advocate of eating disorder awareness and education. Since committing to his own recovery in 2008 he has dedicated hmself to helping others battle their eating disorder and see that recovery is possible. He found a passion in giving back to the community and has done awareness and recovery talks all over the country. He works to shatter the gender stigma, and is actively involved as a NEDA spokesman and NEDA Navigator, as well as a leader in the MentorCONNECT organization.
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Alyssa Singer
NEDA Helpline Volunteer
Through experiencing the eating disorder-related deaths of two girls within her community, Alyssa became interested in working toward preventing tragedies resulting from eating disorders. She joined the Helpline as a volunteer to gain insight into the individual's story, to lend a listening ear to those who may not have that otherwise, and to work toward decreasing the prevalence of eating disorders one person at a time. Currently, Alyssa is on the path to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical psychology to continue to help those suffereing from eating disorders and in the hopes to further research surrounding eating disorders.
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Meet Our February Spotlight Volunteers
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Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D.,
Chair, NEDA Clinical and Scientific Advisory Counsel
Dr. Neumark-Sztainer is a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, both at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on adolescent nutrition and the prevention of weight-related problems. Dr. Neumark-Sztainer has published over 300 articles in scientific journals and book for parents of adolescents entitled: "I'm, like, SO, fat!" Helping your teen make healthy choices about eating and exercise in a weight-obsessed world. She has received several awards for her work including awards from the National Eating Disorders Association, the Academy for Eating Disorders, and the Eating Disorders Coalition.
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Ellen Domingos
NEDA Helpline Volunteer
Ellen Domingos is an actress, writer and advocate for eating disorder awareness. After recovering from her own eating disorder, Ellen now devotes her time to spreading eating disorder awareness and helping those who are struggling. She has written and performs a solo show, Is There Fat In That?, about her eating disorder and finds her work with NEDA and the Helpline the most fulfilling. She is proud and grateful to be a part of this amazing organization that is helping to save lives.
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Paul Cordero
NEDA Navigator Program Volunteer
I give my time to NEDA because I understand the pain that a parent goes through when they feel helpless, like what I went through with my daughter. As a NEDA Navigator I can gain a personal satisfaction of helping others get through these times and giving them the hope that they need.
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Nicole Ortiz
NEDA STAR Program Volunteer
Nicole Ortiz is a Miss Delaware International 2012. For the past five years she has been advocating for eating disorder awareness through a unique platform, pageants. Collaborating with the STAR Program gave her the confidence and resources to successfully lobby for the proclamation of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week in Delaware!
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Meet Our January Spotlight Volunteers
Through the Transition from Seattle to NYC...
Meet the volunteer that helped make NEDA's move a smooth one.
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Liz Penberthy
2011 Summer Intern
Liz grew up in Pelham, NY where she attended Pelham Memorial High School and became involved in mentoring programs for children, specifically girls. She has pursued this interest at Colgate University, mentoring children in the community. As a sophomore majoring in history, she hopes to continue working with young people.
"I decided to work with NEDA in order to learn more about the harrowing disorders that have affected both my family and friends. NEDA has taught me that it takes a supportive national community to adequately address these diseases." |
Meet Our January Spotlight Volunteers
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Ilene Fishman, LCSW
NEDA Navigators Clinical Advisor Volunteer
Ilene has been in private practice for the past 27 years, specializing in treatment of eating disorders. She is currently the president-elect of the NYC chapter of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp) an is a member of NEDA's Founders Council. She is a Clinical Advisor to the NEDA Navigators and the Loss Support Network.
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Douglas Bunnell, PhD
NEDA Navigators Clinical Advisor Volunteer
Dr. Bunnell is the Director of Outpatient Clinical Services for The Renfrew Center, is a member of NEDA's Founders Council and former president of the NEDA board of directors. He helped to develop the NEDA Navigator Program from the very beginning and continues to serve as a Clinical Advisor to the program.
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Avital Suissa
Helpline Volunteer
Working with eating disorders has been a passion of Avital's since she saw movies about them in 8th grade. Having had a family member, friends, and having personally battled the disease, she has seen the affects of an eating disorder from all sides. Her wish on the Helpline is to give every caller hope.
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Jessica Meltzer
Austin Walk Co-Coordinator
Jessica coordinated the Austin Walk because she believes in recovery from an eating disorder. She found that the number of people struggling far surpassed the available resources in the area, so with NEDA's help, brought the community together for an event to both raise funds supporting NEDA programs and awareness.
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Janessa Slatky
Austin Walk Co-Coordinator
Janessa earned her bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Utah State University. Since relocating to Austin, Texas, she has worked extensively with those suffering from eating disorders in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She also coordinated Austin's first-ever annual NEDA Walk in 2010, and continued her successful efforts in the 2011 Austin Walk.
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