On Sunday, tall trees shielded the forming crowd from the sun at Onondaga Lake Park. Flecks of sunlight still streamed through onto the grass, the wood gazebo and the people scattered throughout.

Clusters of people clumped together, each group donning its own T-shirt emblazoned with the team’s logo for the day’s occasion.

The scattered groups represented numerous body types, shapes and sizes. Yet they all had one common thread: a connection to or history with eating disorders.

Ophelia’s Place, a center for eating disorder and body image support and recovery in the Syracuse area, in partnership with the National Eating Disorders Association, hosted a one-mile walk at Willow Bay at Onondaga on Sunday.

Jodie Wilson-Dougherty, executive director of Ophelia’s Place, said the walk in Syracuse has been a long time coming. After years of encouragement from NEDA, who frequently works with Ophelia’s Place, Wilson-Dougherty and the Ophelia’s Place team put the plan into action after attending a conference in March 2012.

After months of planning, the event kicked off with a variety of speakers. Wilson-Dougherty made introductory remarks and the first to speak was Lynn Grefe, CEO of NEDA, who drove up from New York City for the event.

The fundraising goal was originally set for $5,000, but event organizers soon realized they could easily surpass that goal, Wilson-Dougherty said. They upped the goal to $20,000, and had reached and passed the goal by the afternoon of the walk, hitting more than $23,000. More funds were raised from walkers who registered the day of the event.

Grefe stressed the purpose of the event: encouraging those suffering from or in recovery for eating disorders to not be ashamed and come together with one another.

“This isn’t just a fundraiser, this is a friend-raiser of people coming out to talk about eating disorders and say that they are not ashamed,” Grefe said.

After the speakers concluded, the walkers took off along the designated gravel path. Along the walk, signs dotted the grass next to it, each sharing a fact about eating disorders and body image issues.

Colleen Baker, a senior communication and rhetorical studies and psychology dual major who has been affected by an eating disorder since she was in the eighth grade, led one of these groups.

“It was so wonderful to see such strong support for the cause and one united community,” Baker said. “It’s a great way to celebrate and promote eating disorder awareness.”

This semester, Baker is starting a body image group on campus called SHAPES. She said she felt that this event was a great kickoff to the start of the club.

Baker invited friends, family and members of her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, to walk with her.

Eilish Mitchell, a 2012 alumnus and member of AGD, returned to Syracuse to participate in the walk to support Baker.

“This is an issue that needs to be spoken about,” Mitchell said. “I know Colleen is passionate about this, so I wanted to come back to support her.”

Among the walkers were Tommy Chimber, a victim of eating disorders, and his mother, Jennifer Dulicha-Chimber. Both spoke before the walk began.

Chimber began his speech by stating that although eating disorders are normally associated with women, men are still affected. Chimber said that the support he received from family, friends and peers at school was a great help during his recovery.

“People I didn’t know were on my side, were on my side,” Chimber said. “There’s always people by your side to help get you out of anything.”

Published on August 27, 2012 at 2:08 am

Contact Diana: dspearl@syr.edu | @dianapearl_