Hello DDA Members!

The first half of DDA’s 75th Anniversary year has flown by and is quickly drawing to a close. While all of us have been very busy with work and family, 25 individuals have been working to make our professional association a better one for all members. They are your DDA Board Members and I want to thank all of them for all the extra hours they put in, the extra meetings they attend, extra letters they write and extra phone calls they make. In keeping with the spirit of the season, we can all be thankful for these extras.
The next six months should bring together all the fruits of board activities. We will see provocative topics at monthly meetings that will help keep us up-to-date on what’s coming down the dietetics information pipeline.

Plan to attend Spring Seminar where you can receive continuing education hours, network with colleagues and catch up with friends. I think you’ll find this year’s seminar INFINITE POSSIBILITIES: FOOD NUTRITION DIETETICS enjoyable and worthwhile. Save the date and work your schedules! You won’t want to miss this year’s “active” presentations.

What are we doing to elevate our profession you ask? The Texas legislature is out of session this year but DDA members remain active by visiting local lawmakers right here in our own backyard. At these meetings we talk to legislators about what a Registered Dietitian is. We reinforce that RDs are THE nutrition professionals in their communities and we look for common ground and interests. Recent visits include a birthday party for Senator Jane Nelson of Grapevine, and discussions with Representative Carol Kent from Dallas. If you are interested in getting involved with legislative activities, please contact Karin Hosenfeld RD/LD at Khosenfeld@sbcglobal.net or Elen Petrosyan RD/LD at Elenkyank@yahoo.com. With more exciting legislative visits planned for 2010 I encourage you to sign up for one; it’s a fun and easy way to play an important part in our community.

Finally, our community outreach, DDA’s Kids Snack Smart! Recipe Challenge will culminate in an Award Dinner where all members can be part of this important fight against childhood obesity. We are working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dallas with the hopes of having a positive impact on children that might not otherwise ever receive any information about healthy food choices. Chairs of this event are in need of RD’s to visit these sites (just 1 hour!) and provide oversight and assistance in the nutrition education. Can you spare an hour this spring?

As DDA members you will be presented with volunteer opportunities over the next few weeks and months to join the 25 Board Members that make all these things possible. I hope you will pick one of those opportunities, in whatever shape or form, so that what we know today as DDA, can be ever improving, ever reaching; at least for another 75 years!
Happy Holidays to all. I hope to see you soon at some of our DDA events.