Let's F.E.A.S.T.

F.E.A.S.T.'s Board of Directors and the parent community are extending our gratitude and best wishes to our Executive Director, Belinda Caldwell, as she steps down from the role to focus on rolling out a new F.E.A.S.T. website next month. The project will update, streamline, and modernize our face to the world and our services to the parent community. Belinda has been serving as our Executive Director since November of 2016 when Leah Dean passed the baton to her. During her tenure, Belinda has balanced her work at F.E.A.S.T. with her position at  Victorian Centre of Excellence in Eating Disorders (CEED) as a Carer Consultant and Project Manager, and as a founder  and Director and Deputy Chair of Eating Disorders Families Australia . We are grateful for her service, and looking forward to her continued service on the board of directors. Among the achievements of her time leading the organization are increased membership, donations, and events. We are grateful for her professionali

The F.E.A.S.T. community put together an all-day event in Chicago, one day after the International Conference for Eating Disorders ended, with little notice and a lot of heart. It was a day none of us will forget! We counted 87 people in the room, a generous mix of parents new to the topic of eating disorders and experienced parents, as well as clinicians and researchers and eating disorder advocates. Among our thanks for an informative and empowering day are the venue, The Conference Center At University Center. An ideal setting for our audience the room was lovely, the staff warm and helpful, and the catering was, as one participant described it, " quite the best packed lunch I've ever experienced at an organised event." See below for the final program, but suffice it to say it was a buffet of interesting ideas, people, inspiration, and accents! There were participants from at least nine countries, and there were tears of both laughter and sadnes

It was a busy week in Chicago for the F.E.A.S.T. community! Staff, volunteers, and almost all of the Board of Directors were in Chicago this month to gather, learn, collaborate, and think about the future of eating disorder care and support, and what role our community can play in that bright future. Our exhibitor table #212 was a lively center of activity during the whole Academy for Eating Disorders conference, an annual scientific conference put on by the Academy For Eating Disorders. We held a "candy poll" daily to engage visitors, a new feature of our table, and a popular one. candies from a member in Russia to add to the lollies, sweets, candies, and chocolates brought for our table by Board members and Advisory panel, so we had UK, Wales, Australian, New Zealand, US, and Canadian yummy things! Taking picture of the daily candy poll results Parents from around the world attended workshops, plenaries, and Keynote presentations