Giving Donations — Supporting the Eating Disorders Program

Gifts to Enhance Treatment and Find a Cure

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UC San Diego is home to one of the world's leading research and treatment facilities for eating disorders, which affect an estimated nine million Americans and claim more lives than any other psychiatric disorder.

The UC San Diego Eating Disorders Program focuses on researching genetics and brain imaging to learn more about the causes of eating disorders and developing therapies to effectively treat patients. The center offers one of the nation's only outpatient treatment programs specifically designed to involve family members in the treatment of a child with and eating disorder.

Private gifts of any size have a great impact in accelerating the translation of discoveries into solutions for those suffering from eating disorders. Your support will assist the program with its most urgent needs, including research costs, purchasing and maintaining study equipment and assisting families cover the cost of treatment. Click here support the program's greatest needs with a secure online gift.

The Impact of Gifts: Saving a Daughter

"My daughter, like so many anorexics, is beautiful, intelligent and artistic. I'll never forget the feeling of panic as I watched her literally start to disappear."

With a child so ill that a hospital stay seemed inevitable, Janice and her husband were hoping to save their daughter Marylin when they brought her to UC San Diego's Eating Disorders Program for an intensive, week-long outpatient regimen.

Under the direction of internationally renowned eating disorders specialist, Walter Kaye, M.D., Marylin's family learned the necessary skills to manage and support her disease at home through intensive training in Maudsley Family Therapy.

After undergoing treatment and with her family's continued guidance, Marilyn gained several pounds toward her goal weight. With Marilyn now on her way to living a long, healthy life, her mother commented: "In one week, you empowered us with the information and skills necessary to save our daughter."

Names have been changed

More Testimonials

Our daughter was hospitalized and diagnosed with anorexia in 2006. For 2.5 years, post-hospitalization, we watched her struggle with the disease, while being treated by a physician, a psychologist and a nutritionist. We reached a point this summer where we had to consider inpatient residential treatment.

While researching places and prices for treatment programs, we came across the UCSD Intensive Family Therapy Program. Not only was it affordable, but the staff was extremely knowledgeable about the latest research and treatment methods.

We flew across the country for the one week intervention. It was the best decision we could have ever made……the staff was caring, knowledgeable and supportive. They designed the program to cater to our family’s needs at that point of time. We met as a family, as a couple, individually, and they even had sessions for siblings. The staff was extremely helpful post-intervention too. They were supportive and answered questions we had during the re-feeding process.

It is 4 months post-intervention now...our daughter is weight restored. Some days I want to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming. We know we still have a long ways to go for complete recovery, but all of us are so much more confident now, as we have an excellent resource to turn to. Thank you UCSD.
Grateful Mom

UCSD was amazingly wonderful. We ended up staying two weeks there in total. First week was their traditional 5-day family intensive week and then Dr. Kaye suggested we stay a second week and they tailored a program that included some family work and then a lot of group stuff for my daughter. Roxanne and the team are fantastic at what they do and I would recommend them to ANYONE going through this. They were very, very flexible and adamant that as the parent, I would know best what my daughter needs. As for XXXX, they were completely unwilling to even coach me through what to do with the melt downs, which surprised me greatly. I agreed and understood that weight restoration was a top priority, but my daughter was begging for something more, for a way to redirect her wasted energy that was obsessing over body image. Since we switched therapists, the melt downs have lessened in frequency and intensity. My daughter is working very hard at trying to redirect her mindset, etc.

Ways to Give

The UC San Diego Eating Disorders Program has earned an international reputation as a leader in research and treatment of eating disorders. We are committed to finding the root causes of eating disorders to effectively treat and ultimately cure such debilitating disorders.

With your help, we can more rapidly transform research into innovative treatments that will change and improve the quality of life for countless individuals. Even modest contributions, pooled with gifts from other friends, can achieve big results with vast impact. It's as easy as 1-2-3:

Step 1: Choose Your Area of Impact

Assist in supporting the greatest needs of the UC San Diego Eating Disorders Program.

Step 2: Designate an Amount

You can make a difference with a gift of any amount, whether it's $50, $500, $5,000 or $5 million.

Step 3: Choose Your Philanthropic Tools

Gift of cash via secure online credit card transaction
Appreciated
Pledge (a gift over time)
Matching gift through your employer
Or consider a planned gift

Matching Gifts

Matching gift programs can dramatically increase the impact of your gift to UC San Diego. Many employers sponsor matching gift programs and may double or triple any charitable contributions made by their employees.

Need Help?

We're here to help!

P: (858) 534-9648

AnnualGiving@ucsd.edu