Editorial
Front Page - Friday, November 12, 2010
MCR Foundation offers hope to victims of eating disorders
David Laprad
Jenny Johnston is the executive director of the Mary Cameron Robinson Foundation. Next to her is Kelly Brexler, wife of Erlanger CEO Jim Brexler, board member of the Foundation and support group leader.
- David Laprad
One in five children will have an eating disorder. And there are more people with eating disorders than there are women with breast cancer. Yet eating disorders are the illness about which no one will talk.
Mary Cameron Robinson is speaking up, even though her life ended too soon. She was diagnosed with an eating disorder at age 14, and at the age of 26, her body said, “Enough.” She’d been through treatment in Arizona, was no longer diagnosed with an eating disorder and was engaged to be married, but her heart had never recovered from years of starvation, and stopped beating on Sept. 2, 2005.
Throughout her illness, her parents, Wejun and Jan Robinson, had nowhere in Chattanooga to turn for help. So, following the passing of her daughter, Jan determined that would not be the case for others and founded the Mary Cameron Robinson Foundation.
The MCR Foundation, lo-cated at 1400 McCallie Aven-ue, offers reading materials, support groups and guidance for anyone linked to an eating disorder, including victims, family members and friends. It also takes preventive measures.
Executive Director Jenny Johnston says the foundation’s resource library offers a comprehensive array of reading materials on binge eating, purging, bulimia, anorexia and other disorders.
“We’ve even collected books that can help parents talk with their teens about an eating disorder. People can come check these materials out, like at a regular library” she says.
The MCR Foundation also offers support groups, including a new, professionally led gathering called ANAD, which is short for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
For the first three months, Johnston says the group will offer informative discussions and counseling centered on specific times of year. “In December, we’re going to have a dietician talk about the holidays and how food can trigger an eating disorder. A lot of people with an eating disorder won’t eat with their families at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Then in January, a therapist from a local treatment center, Focus Health Care of Tennessee, will talk about becoming a new you in the new year.
Then in February, we’re going to cover eating disorders and relationships,” she says.
While the resource library and support groups are designed to help someone already diagnosed with an eating disorder, the MCR Foundation also works to nip the problem in the bud through prevention efforts at Hamilton County Schools. Because prevention starts in the third grade, Johnston says, the Foundation created a program for second through fifth graders that focuses on developing self-esteem and a positive body image.
“Each child receives a plant, and then we talk about how the plant needs to be nourished, just like their bodies. Then we ask the children to write down the things they like about themselves. That’s easier for some than others. Then they stick the things they wrote down in the pot with the plant so that each time they tend to their plant, they’re reminded of something they like about themselves,” Johnston says.
The MCR Foundation also acts as a referral service for families and victims, pointing them to the various doctors and mental health professionals throughout the Chattanooga community that can provide help. The idea, Johnston says, is to make sure those who need help get it and avoid the tragic end of the Foundation’s namesake.
For more information about the MCR Foundation, visit www.mcrfoundation.com.
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