Press Releases Candles Light the Way Toward Health & Healing Eating Disorder Survivors Break the Silence on April 26, 2003 Riddles and More Questions: Eating Disorders Take the Stage Candles Light the Way Toward Health & Healing April 26, 2002 Highland Park, IL– December 2002- On April 26, 2003 during the second annual ANAD Candlelight Vigil, thousands of candles will be lit across the country to promote a positive body image, encourage healthy living, and to recognize the plight of people with eating disorders. Hundreds of volunteers will organize Vigils and encourage people to "Accept Yourself...Accept Others". There will be a Vigil on the National Mall in Washington, DC, as well as dozens of college campuses, stretching from the east to the west coast. The Vigils will feature speakers, entertainment, information about healthy living and, of course, the symbolic light of candles. On many college campuses, Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority chapters will sponsor a week of activities to educate and emphasize the importance of positive self image, acceptance of others, freedom of expression, and the recognition and prevention of eating disorders. This Acceptance Week sill conclude with a Candlelight Vigil. A highlight of the evening will be the ANAD Pledge, which will be read before the actual candle lighting. The Pledge reiterates our shared humanity by focusing on a commitment to be more understanding of ourselves and others. As each person takes the ANAD Pledge, they will receive a lavender Awareness Ribbon. This event is sponsored by ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders), Delta Phi Epsilon National Sorority, Remuda Ranch Center for Anorexia & Bulimia, Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, and Linden Oaks Hospital at Edward. For more information about the Candlelight Vigils or to arrange an interview, please call Caryn Gehrke at (847) 433-3996 or email ANAD at anad20@aol.com. For information about the Washington, DC Vigil, please call Millie Plotkin at (301) 980-6982 or email voicesnotbodies@yahoo.com. ### Eating Disorder Survivors Break the Silence on April 26, 2003 The second annual Candlelight Vigil for Eating Disorders Awareness will take place from 4pm to 9pm, on Saturday April 26 at the U. S. Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorder (ANAD) is sponsoring this event, which is titled “Voices – Not Bodies.” The vigil aims to bring together sufferers and family members, to speak out about these highly stigmatized mental illnesses. The vigil will consist of two parts. From 4pm to 7:00pm, attendees will be able to collect information from a variety of support groups and treatment centers, and visit a memorial to those who have lost their lives to eating disorders. In addition, there will be a stage for performances by dancers, a one-woman play, and a body movement workshop. The highlight of the day is from 7:00 to 9pm, with speeches by several people whose lives have been touched by eating disorders. These speakers include singer/songwriter Cynthia French, activist Dennis Henning, and Colleen McGowan, who lost her sister to anorexia in 2000. A candle lighting ceremony will culminate with a reading of the ANAD Pledge, a commitment to be more understanding of others and stop the abuse and ridicule that often leads to eating disorders. According to Vivian Hanson Meehan, founder and President of ANAD, "In America there is a false conception of the female form that is repeated over and over in thousands of ways. Millions of people go from these false conceptions to a struggle with eating disorders, which can be extremely dangerous, cause unbelievable suffering for their families and, in the worst case scenarios, result in death." As the oldest non-profit dedicated to combating these issues, “We felt it was time to celebrate our uniqueness and diversity which we are doing through our Candlelight Vigil.” On the same date, dozens of similar vigils, also sponsored by ANAD and Delta Phi Epsilon National Sorority, will take place across the country on college and university campuses. As thousands of candles are lit and lavender awareness ribbons are worn, attendees will seek to live healthier lives and “Accept Yourself . . . Accept Others.”® For more information about the “Voices – Not Bodies” Candlelight Vigil for Eating Disorders Awareness, contact Millie Plotkin by phone at (301) 980-6982 or by email at voicesnotbodies@yahoo.com. For more information about ANAD, call (847) 433-3996 or email anad20@aol.com. ### Riddles and More Questions: Eating Disorders Take the Stage What's colorblind; can be skinny, fat, or average; is young or old; doesn't have a minimum financial requirement; is deadly; and, is not a joke? The answer is another riddle: eating disorders. Cathy Plourde, a Maine Playwright and the executive director of Add Verb Productions, has taken on the issue in the form of a play, a 30-minute one-woman show called The Thin Line. The Thin Line has been touring nationally to colleges, high schools, middle schools, community centers, and conferences since 2000. The Thin Line weaves together the voices of four characters--a girl who is struggling, her internal negative voice, her mother, and a friend--showing how the disease affects not only the individual struggling, but also how it impacts his or her surrounding family and circle of friends. Following the performance, the audience has a chance to interact with area resources and local counselors and medical experts. Talking about the issues helps to diffuse the secrecy and shame that surround eating disorders and allows people to begin to understand what individuals are experiencing. One woman who saw the show last spring, shortly after being released from treatment herself, and said, "This play helped my loved ones to understand. It showed my parents a little of what was going on in my head. This play captured my emotions, my thoughts and my struggles." The Thin Line has received high praise from experts, health care providers, teachers, parents, college students and youth. Dr. Margo Maine, author of The Body Wars, says "The Thin Line is one of the most accurate examinations of the experience of eating disorders. It shows the insidious hold eating disorders develop on an otherwise rational, resourceful, reliable person; how it destroys self-confidence, judgment, and relationships; how they affect the families and friends; how they defy logic and destroy the spirit.” Chances are that every single person either knows someone who has an eating disorder, or knows of someone who has disordered eating--the precursor to a full blown case. The sooner intervention occurs, the better a person's chance of complete recovery from the impact of anorexia, bulimia, compulsive binge eating and other eating disorders. Plourde, writer and director of The Thin Line and other issue-oriented educational theatre, says, "Men and boys often see eating disorders as just a female issue. The truth is that boys and minorities are the fastest growing populations being diagnosed. And, boys and men have sisters, mothers, friends, girlfriends, aunts, nieces: these women are in the lives of boys and men, and that makes it a male issue." The Thin Line, performed by Diane Cooper-Gould, will be presented as part of the Voices – Not Bodies Candlelight Vigil for Eating Disorders Awareness at 4:30pm on Saturday, April 26. This event will take place in front of the U. S. Capitol Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. For more information on The Thin Line, contact Cathy Plourde at (207) 653-4554 or adverb@att.net. For more information on the Candlelight Vigil, contact Millie Plotkin at (301) 980-6982 or voicesnotbodies@yahoo.com. ### Home