Many people ride long distances on a bike to get themselves in shape, but individuals involved in the Women’s Wellness Organization are riding 720 miles to raise awareness about other women’s health.

“Women’s Ride with Pride” will leave from Rexburg May 1 and will culminate on May 12 in Las Vegas, Nev. Celeste Carolin, a senior from Billings, Mont., and founder of the Women’s Wellness Organization, said the goal of the ride is to raise money and awareness to help women with eating disorders.

They will stop in various cities along the way to teach workshops and spread the word. Riders and participants will take turns riding and teaching.

Carolin said eating disorders can be a scary problem. “It’s probably the largest problem that affects women in [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints],” Carolin said.

One in five women in the United States has an eating disorder, and the statistics are even higher among women in the Church at about one in four, Carolin said.

“The common belief is that [an eating disorder] is like an addiction, and that’s how they talk about it and treat it,” Carolin said. “They just work with the food and only fix the food, but the food is not the problem, so it will just come back or be replaced with another negative habit.”

Carolin said the best way to treat eating disorders is to get to the root of the problem. “It’s a thought-process problem,” Carolin said.

“Their value basis is on ‘what I do’ not ‘who I am’.” Many children growing up are rewarded based on behavior not for who they are, and Carolin said this sort of treatment affects the thought process of these women to meet expectations of society and other people by what they do, not who they are.

The Women’s Wellness Organization was started in December 2005 and is still in its infancy, with only seven riders, but Carolin hopes it will soon spread awareness much farther. She plans on making this ride an annual event with other smaller events throughout the year.

Carolin said there are always places for students interested to get involved in the organization, but the biggest thing they can do is to become informed about the real issues behind eating disorders.

Students and community members can also attend a silent auction on Sat. April 29 at AmericInn at 7:30 p.m. to help support the cause and become informed.