Received this in my email this morning as well as permission to post here:


August 19, 2006 - Oakland, CA � The National Association to Advance Size Acceptance (NAAFA) has a new look, a new logo, a new informational brochure, new strategic goals, a viable plan to achieve those goals over the next five years, and a new fee structure designed to make NAAFA membership easily accessible to people of all income levels. Our goal is to accomplish our initiatives, becoming a world-class human rights organization building on our already established reputation as a credible and effective advocate for people of size.

At our national convention just held in Boston, NAAFA introduced our five year plan which includes the following six strategic initiatives: (1) to streamline our organization to make it more nimble, more effective, and more responsive; (2) to increase our membership by instituting a $15-a-year membership fee; (3) to pursue universal healthcare; (4) to promote our new legal aid program�FLARE, the Fat Legal Advocacy, Rights, and Education Project; (5) to promote civil rights compliance and enhanced legislation ensuring the rights of people of size; and (6) to establish a national grassroots action team for child advocacy.

NAAFA is delighted to help start the country�s first legal advocacy project focused solely on issues of body size. Our new legal aid program called FLARE, the Fat Legal Advocacy, Rights, and Education Project has been created to assist people facing size-related discrimination. This program will help aid those attorneys already volunteering their time, train more lawyers in weight-related issues, promote legislation prohibiting weight-based discrimination, and maintain a national legal database of attorneys willing to take on weight-related cases.

NAAFA has begun The Size Savvy Project, a grassroots effort to build a nationwide database that identifies how well various businesses accommodate people of size. We will gather data on all kinds of businesses in communities across the country: healthcare services, airlines, automakers, restaurants, hair salons, health clubs, theaters � you name it. Each participating locale will have its own database, accessible through the new NAAFA website being introduced in September, 2006. For each business listed we will provide not only the initial data but also user ratings and comments that will help keep the information relevant and up-to-date. This is the only project of this magnitude. NAAFA will be the first human rights organization to develop a database focused specifically on the needs of more than 30% of the American population.

Founded in 1969, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people. NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination based on body size and provide fat people with the tools for self-empowerment through public education, advocacy, and member support.

On the web: http://www.naafa.org

For more information contact:
Peggy Howell, Public Relations Chairman
National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
E-mail: naafa_pr@yahoo.com Phone: (707)246-6116