Main fundraiser photo

East Coast WLS Meet Ups

Hi... I’m @Nikalove_lives aka Nika in the weight loss surgery community.  I had VSG in 2015.  I went to my first meet up hosted by Donna @insaneprofane in 2016.  And my love of the Instagram community was sparked right then and there. Because I found my tribe.

I’m also a marketing bossbabe who owns an agency in NYC called Pulse Creative. I wanted to help make the WLS MeetUps more accessible to others and help bring my production and event management skills to the table to do that.  That’s when @eastcoastwlsmeetups was born.  

I teamed up with Donna on her next event and the rest is history. We’ve been doing them each year since.  Our events are always no cost to any attendees. I’ve always put in my time and money to make these events happen.  Anyone who attends sees a website, gets promo swag, name tags, photo walls, etc. They even see my teams manning the check ins and taking photos. 

I’ve done this altruistically.  I am donating my firm’s services for a website, photography and event on site management. But admittedly, I’ve spent money.  And I’ve never asked for a thing.  I never intended to.  

I’m happy to say the meet up has grown and we had our highest ever turn out this year of 325ish people. This year, for the first time, people have offered to donate and give something back.  

While I don’t expect anything nor am I asking anyone to feel obligated, I’m creating a link for those who do want to help out.  Here is the approximate costs I spent for this year’s event.  If you feel like donating, it is appreciated. If not, no worries. Seriously.

This event is a passion project and is my gift to the community that gave me a safe space to find myself, get support and meet friends who have become like family.  But for those who are asking to donate something, here you go.  

If we reach above goal, which I don’t expect, I just want you to know the money will simply go to the next event. Because end of the day, I hope to be able to continue to connect people and bring tribes together. 

Thanks for any and all support.

xoxo-
Nika

Organizer

Monica Alvarez-Mitchell
Organizer
Englewood Cliffs, NJ

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