Two eating disorder support groups are teaming up to hold the University Eating Disorder Awareness Walk on Boston University’s Charles River Campus in the spring 2014 semester.

Hynes Recovery Services, an organization intended to help individuals with eating disorders, is partnering with the F.R.E.E.D. Foundation for Recovery and Elimination of Eating Disorders to hold their first-ever awareness walk. The walk is set to take place May 4 on Nickerson Field, said Hynes Recovery Services Founder Dawn Hynes.

“Through this awareness walk, we are hoping to create an awareness of the significant number of students struggling with body image and eating concerns on campuses throughout the country,” Hynes said. “In addition, we are also looking to raise much-needed funds for college students seeking treatment support.”

There will be a $10 registration fee for the event, Hynes said. Proceeds will go to college students and other youth to afford resources to recover from their eating disorders.

“Our organization is partnering with the F.R.E.E.D. Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to providing treatment scholarships to individuals seeking treatment,” she said. “Incoming walk funds will be given directly to this organization and then distributed to college students that will reach out to them for financial support.”

While the event will take place at BU, officials from Hynes Recovery Services are encouraging students from other colleges and universities in the region to participate in the walk.

“Although this walk will take place in Boston, we are hoping to have other colleges and universities from other parts of Massachusetts and throughout New England participate in person,” she said. “And, for those that are not able to attend, we are hoping that students will become a ‘virtual walker’ and make a donation online.”

The event will also feature four speakers who have had experiences with eating disorders, Hynes said. Students can register for the Eating Disorder Awareness walk at www.walktowardrecovery.com.

“We will have a number of speakers sharing their recovery journey with our walk participants, as well as hearing from a mother whose daughter had struggled with an eating disorder while in college,” she said.

Most students probably know someone that has been affected by an eating disorder because the illness is prevalent at the college level, Hynes said.

“It’s important for students to not feel alone with these issues and know that there are resources on campus available to help them if needed,” she said. “Our hope is that at the end of the event, students will feel more comfortable reaching out and supporting a peer they believe might be in crisis.”

F.R.E.E.D. Executive Director Gail Schoenbach said while the University Eating Disorder Awareness Walk is an effort to raise money to support those suffering from eating disorders, the organizations also aim to educate students about the presence of eating disorders in university communities.

“What I’m hoping for when we do these things on college campuses and talk to students is that [we] let them know that they are not alone,” she said. “This is something that is not an isolating illness. It’s not something they have to deal with by themselves. There is help out there.”
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Melanie Kirsh said she is pleased the walk will take place on BU’s campus.

“I appreciate the fact that it’s specifically for college students suffering from eating disorders,” she said. “It’s very stigmatized in society in general, but then when you’re in college, … especially at a big school like this, you may not find the support you need immediately.”

The University Eating Disorder Awareness Walk is a way for eating disorder survivors to help others get the resources they need to recover, Kirsh said.

“Let’s say someone has recovered — which I think is kind of a problematic term — but let’s say they’ve mostly bounced back into normal life,” she said. “This is a way for them to give back and say, ‘treatment allowed me to return to normal functioning, so now I can give back to people who are suffering right now.’”