More than 30 million Americans suffer from eating disorders. A Wayne State College sorority brought attention to the malady recently.

Theta Phi Alpha raised money for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, which was Feb. 27 through March 3. The group raised $33 from the bake sale and donated it to the National Eating Disorder Association.

“NEDA week is important to me because it raises awareness for eating disorders,” philanthropy chair Hannah Rathman said. “Often we overlook eating disorders, but I have many friends that have been directly affected by an eating disorder.”

Eating disorders include bulimia, binge eating, anorexia and more. The disorder affects all kinds of people, and over 30 million Americans will struggle with it at some point in their lives.

“NEDA week, in my perspective, is also an awareness of mental illnesses and suicide prevention,” freshman Amanda Heath said. “I believe NEDA week has helped people by showing that you are enough, even if you aren’t suffering from an eating disorder.”

Theta Phi Alpha put together a bake sale that had desserts and healthy snacks for sale and NEDA week shirts.

“I baked cupcakes to sell at the bake sale,” sophomore Kim Svitak said. “I also volunteered at the table by the upper cafeteria and handed out buttons and sold baked goods and healthy snacks.”

There was also a trash can where people could trash their insecurities. They would write down an insecurity they had on a piece of paper and then throw it away.

“I loved the ‘trash your insecurities,’” Heath said. “I was a bit skeptical at first because I thought talking about insecurities would be uncomfortable for some people, but I absolutely loved it. Writing my insecurities on a piece of paper and throwing them away made it seem like I was destroying all power that I allowed those insecurities to have over me.”

Girls in Theta Phi Alpha wrote “You Are Enough” on their hands and posed for pictures and posted them near the upper cafeteria. They also handed out free buttons that said “National Eating Disorder Awareness,” and had a survey students could take to see if they were at risk.

“I do think that NEDA week raises awareness to our campus and gets people talking about eating disorders,” Rathman said. “Our slogan this year for NEDA week was ‘You are enough.’ I saw a lot of positive feedback on handing out our buttons to tell people that they are enough and can seek help if needed.”

This was Theta Phi Alpha’s third time bringing awareness of eating disorders to campus.

“This helps people in many ways,” Svitak said. “For someone who is struggling, this is an opportunity for them to seek help. It also provides the opportunity for others to help those with an eating disorder.”