Hello WAMDA Members!
It is my pleasure to take on the role of WAMDA President for the 2023/2024 Board year, following 2 great years of leadership by a wonderful colleague and friend Marissa Chiapperino.
The last few years have been challenging for all Area Associations in retaining and adding new members to support the nutrition community. This year, like all others, our WAMDA Board of Directors are committed to engaging new members and working hard to support those who are already members by showing value in our organization and ourselves.
This year we closed out the WAMDA 5K Walk/Run after donating 100,000 to The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts over the course of 30 years. Cheers to all who have worked to help attain that goal by running, walking, fundraising, volunteering or donating! We are pivoting our focus to other philanthropy opportunities in our area to support food insecurity, nutrition education, community wellness, and public policy. We would love your support and suggestions!
Our Public Relations team has already been hard at work coordinating social events, such as Mikes Maze and the Festival of Trees to support the Boys and Girls Club. In 2024 we will also offer an RD Day Celebration open to all interns and dietitians, as well as our annual Public Policy Workshop and would love your feedback for other ideas. All BOD members are working hard to facilitate speaker programs for both CEU opportunities and general education and we have a great lineup planned. Be on the lookout!
The year, we are purposefully engaging new dietitians and interns to get their thoughts and ideas for new programs, events, and fundraising and we have great support from Christy Maxwell, UMass Internship Director. I encourage all area dietitians and interns to join WAMDA for the first time, or again, in support of our field, our colleagues and those we help every day!
Current members, please feel free to come and join a BOD meeting if you are interested in a position or just want to learn more. I can be reached at [email protected].
Thank you,
Alison Roy