Happy New Year! We hope this finds you enjoying good-health, happiness and renewed energy. Speaking of renewed energy, we’re looking forward to what 2010 will bring on the Hill with regard to health care legislation, and specifically eating disorders policies.
We are also looking forward to doing what we do best and that is creating more opportunities for each of you to use your voice as healthy and empowered advocates with the EDC! [To that end –if you haven’t already, please take a moment to sign up for the Friends and Family Action Network (FAC)**. See information on how below)].
The members of our FAC, and many other individuals from Facebook and beyond, helped end 2009 through an empowering and highly successful Action Alert! Our “November Letter Writing Campaign” sought to inspire 100 of you to write your Member of Congress, asking them to sign on as a cosponsor to the FREED Act (HR 1193).
We are happy to report that we surpassed our goal of 100 letters!
The success of more than 100 letters was not a simple undertaking and could not have happened without your support! A great deal of effort goes into encouraging people to take the time to write their Member of Congress. In this case, it was not only the EDC staff who did the encouraging - so many of YOU helped by posting our “Action Alert” on your Facebook page or by emailing your friends and family asking them to write a letter. That is true grassroots activism. Way to go!
Our November Letter Writing Campaign was a collective effort of tremendous dedication to our cause –made successful, thanks to you!
Perhaps the most exciting part of the letter-writing campaign is the result: we garnered TWO additional cosponsors so far. Representative Jerrold Nadler from New York, and Representative Jim Gerlach from Pennsylvania signed on as cosponsors on December 7th and December 9th, 2009, respectively. We are thrilled to see Representative Gerlach sign on, as we have had a team of citizen advocates who repeatedly met with his office during Lobby Days over the years. It is through the relationship these EDC advocates built with staff, combined with the letter-writing campaign, that led to this success.
The two new cosponsors of the FREED Act are proof that your voice DOES make a difference!
As we continue our momentum with the FREED Act and health care legislation, be on the lookout for Action Alerts, Lobby Days and other ways you can get involved with the EDC. We look forward to hearing you use your voice this year and make a difference in the way Congress addresses eating disorders. Doing so will save lives!
We also BELIEVE in and look forward to the FREED Act becoming law in 2010! With your help, we CAN do it!
From the Hill, Kathleen MacDonald, Policy Assistant
Jeanine Cogan, Policy Director
**What is the FAC? We are the citizen advocates and voices of those affected by eating disorders throughout the United States. Many of you know that the EDC is a coalition of member organizations, but did you know that the FAC is the largest group in our coalition? The FAC adds the collective voice and energy of individuals, and without your voice we would not be as powerful –especially on Lobby Days! What do FAC members do? We tell EDC what policies and legislation matter to us. FAC members answer EDC’s action alerts by writing letters and calling their Members of Congress at critical times during the Congressional year. FAC members answer calls for contributions and donations. The EDC organizes FAC advocates for Lobby Days, Congressional Briefings and other events. As we head into a new year and new legislative era, please commit to, or renew, your membership with the FAC. Your voice can make a difference! Click here to Join the FAC
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