19 year old Tina Malament has struggled with Anorexia since she was 10 years old. Now she wants to help bring about awareness for the disorder.
Tina recently finished her Freshman year at American University in Washington and is now making a difference in hundreds of peoples lives. She's currently studying psychology and literature and creating t-shirts to help raise awareness of Eating Disorders, especially Anorexia.
The shirts are produced in her dorm room in her spare time, which she designs, paints and sells- they go for $10 USD each. Instead of spending her extra hours counting calories and doing exercises, Tina has decided to work on this project to help others have a voice about disordered eating.
She wears the tops herself around campus and the city, hoping to express what so many cannot say. Some of the shirts reflect statistics, like "20% will die from their anorexia," and the back reads, "Is it worth this?" above a list of 18 side effects associated with the disorder.
All of the money she raises goes back into producing the shirts. One young girl approached her at a book signing and said she wanted one but didn't have any money. Tina sent her one for free, hugged her and told her it would be okay.
She writes a blog about her life, which includes information about the t-shirts and how she's doing. You can visit it at: www.xanga.com/novare. If you would like to contact her directly, you can reach her at her email address.
