Southeast Missouri State University will host a 5K to end this year's National Eating Disorders Awareness week, which is the last week in February every year. The event is dedicated to educating the public about the presence of eating disorders in society.

Twenty million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some point in their life, according to the National Eating Disorders Association, many of whom are of college age.

The event will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, at Arena Park Pavilion 1 in Cape Girardeau.

Ali Brown, a senior dietetics major at Southeast and a member of the Eating Disorders Awareness Committee, has been the director of the event since it began in 2012.

"Eventually when I graduate and do my internship, I want to work in an eating disorder rehab center, so I figured what better way to get involved than to be on the awareness committee," Brown said.

Being the director of the event is no small task. Brown is in charge of publicizing the event, reserving the location, ordering T-shirts, recruiting volunteers and obtaining liability insurance for the event. Regardless, she still is looking to continue improving the event by raising more money than last year as well as getting as many people to participate as possible.

"Last year we ended up raising just about $700, so my goal right now is to raise $900," Brown said.

However, weather played a large role in last year's event.

"Last year it was snowing on the day of it," Brown said. "It was funny, my mom came down for the event and she sat in the car and watched instead of participating."

Brown is hoping for the weather to be more forgiving at this year's event and she said she hopes to get as many people to participate as possible. Aside from raising money, Brown wants to make it a fun day for participants instead of it being "miserable and cold."

Brown expects between 75 to 100 participants to either run or walk in the 5K.

"This is a cool event because there are usually a lot of adults and people from the community, and it's cool to see new faces," Brown said.

She hopes that those who participate also gain more knowledge and awareness about eating disorders.

"It's really prevalent, especially for college students, and I don't think people really think about it unless they're educated," Brown said.

A family friend of Brown's had an eating disorder, which is why she is so passionate about the cause.

"She had to stay at a rehab center, and she gained weight because they make you as you go along with it, but she was never mentally rid of it. But since she had hit a certain weight, her insurance company stopped paying for it and her family couldn't afford to keep sending her," Brown said of her friend. "It's hard to see, so it would be cool to actually be able to do something about it."

For more information on how to join Brown at the 5K to raise awareness and run or walk for the cause, vist racesonline.com. Registration will also be available on the day of the event beginning at 10 a.m.. There is a $20 entry fee with all proceeds going to the National Eating Disorder Awareness Association.