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Siyona, AHA Youth Ambassador and Stratford School District student
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California school district marks extraordinary fundraising milestone |
This year, the Stratford School District’s Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge kickoff felt like a million bucks.
That’s because Stratford, a private district with 29 campuses in Northern and Southern California, was celebrating $1 million in lifetime fundraising for the American Heart Association — as well as the teachers, students and administrators who helped make that possible.
Siyona, an AHA Youth Ambassador and Stratford Palo Alto campus third-grader, spoke March 9 during her school’s Kids Heart Challenge kickoff assembly about ways students can fight cardiovascular disease and care for their hearts.
Stratford’s AHA fundraising began in 2005 at its Los Gatos campus, where teacher Dawn Ellner ushered in the predecessor program to Kids Heart Challenge after having a heart attack at age 28. This year, 16 Stratford schools are participating in the youth challenges, involving about 5,300 students and their families.
Siyona participates to support people with special hearts. “I do Kids Heart Challenge because it makes me feel good to help others who need it while learning about my own heart,” she said.
Read more.
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From top, U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer, John Cornyn and Debbie Stabenow,
and the AHA’s Ray Vara (right) and Jeff Mueller
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Nonprofit leaders urge U.S. senators to increase giving incentives |
The American Heart Association teamed up with peers from 10 other nonprofits last week to promote legislation expanding tax-free charitable donations from individual retirement accounts.
Ray Vara, chairperson of the AHA Board of Directors, and Jeff Mueller, AHA advisor in charitable estate planning, met online with Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and senior advisors for other senators to advocate for S.243, the Legacy IRA Act. The AHA leads a coalition of nearly 60 national nonprofits advocating for the bill.
Next week, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on charitable giving, and the AHA is submitting a statement of support.
S.243 would allow individuals to direct tax-free distributions totaling up to $400,000 annually from their IRAs to charities through life-income plans such as charitable gift annuities beginning at age 65. Current law permits IRA distributions up to $100,000 annually directly to a charity, but not through life-income plans, beginning six months after a person turns 70.
Thank you to Emily Horowitz, AHA government relations manager, and the advocacy team for coordinating last week’s meetings and helping to make an extraordinary impact.
Learn more and get involved
at You’re the Cure.
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Bystander CPR on children differs according to race and ethnicity |
White children more frequently received bystander CPR than Black and Hispanic children in a new study, published this week in Circulation.
The researchers relied on a national EMS database of 7,285 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occurred in children from January 2016 to December 2019.
According to the study, white children made up 52.3% of the cases and received bystander CPR 75% of the time. About 29% of the cardiac arrests occurred in Black children, who received bystander CPR 67% of the time. For Hispanic children, who accounted for about 14% of cases, bystanders provided CPR in 68% of the cardiac arrests.
Read More.
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Circle of Red Chairperson Beth Sak and daughter Ainsley walk the runway at Cleveland’s Go Red for Women celebration.
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Cleveland Goes Red, reclaims rhythm at music-filled celebration |
After two long years of COVID-19 keeping people apart, an energized crowd of 400 gathered last month in downtown Cleveland for inspiration and empowerment at the Go Red for Women celebration.
Building on the AHA’s call to “Reclaim Your Rhythm,” the music-filled experience — including a runway show that opened and closed the event — capped a Heart Month of local opportunities to learn, reconnect and focus on wellness.
The Feb. 25 event “filled an enormous gap” in everyone’s sense of community, said Dan Simon, M.D., Medical Centers president at University Hospitals Health System.
“Getting together in-person for the first time in over two years — the warmth and connections were palpable,” Simon said.
With one-quarter of Cuyahoga County residents living in food deserts and half the county’s children in poverty, nutrition security is a key AHA priority locally. Go Red is making inroads against such health inequities, said Campaign Chairperson Catherine O'Malley Kearney.
At the event, Kearney shared how
she was diagnosed with heart failure in her 20s. Medical chairperson and interventional cardiologist Anene Ukaigwe, M.D., spoke about cardiomyopathy and maternal health.
The event raised $670,000.
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Glenn Vanden Houten outside Warsaw’s central train station
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT |
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Staffer’s outreach helps ease travel for Ukraine war refugees
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For AHA staffer Glenn Vanden Houten, a helping hand includes two sets of handles.
Within a week after Ukraine was invaded, as the refugee crisis began to unfold, Glenn went to the central train station in Warsaw, Poland, to help however he could. He saw numerous refugees, whose many burdens included the struggle to carry essential possessions in small, tattered, overstuffed shopping bags.
“I had several IKEA bags at home and thought they would be perfect,” said Glenn, a regional director for the AHA International EU Rep Office based in Warsaw.
He bought 500 IKEA bags — the big blue ones with long and short handles and a 19-gallon capacity.
With donations from AHA colleagues he’s now purchased over 5,000 bags. He walks through the station holding a sign that says “Bags for You” in Ukrainian, and makes them available in hub areas.
Glenn said he’ll never forget people’s gratitude for a simple bag.
“Many run after me for the bags. Some are crying when I give it to them, and everyone says ‘thank you, thank you’ over and over either in Ukrainian or Russian.”
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Myeshia Whigham is the coordinator of Student Services, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Oceanside Unified School District.
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VOLUNTEER VOICES |
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Myeshia Whigham, Western States
Water stations fill wellness culture at Oceanside, California, schools
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When it was time to update the Oceanside Unified School District Wellness Plan, we knew that making the healthy choice the easy choice was a key component.
Our work with San Diego County Health and Human Services led us to the American Heart Association. The AHA reviewed our wellness policy and offered suggestions, including refillable water bottle stations.
One of the first things we did was remove sugar-sweetened beverages from the vending machines.
Community partners provided refillable water bottles. The PTA also stepped up to fund a few water stations. There are cups available in the cafeterias, and water bottles are allowed for staff and students.
These updates provide water security to over 16,000 students, and we are seeing the impact on our school culture.
Staff and students walk around with their refillable water bottles. Our athletes drink more water than sports beverages. Even my daughter makes sure her favorite water bottle is in her backpack every morning.
Our collaboration with the AHA to build a healthier Oceanside is just beginning.
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fast facts |
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Studies show that replacing caloric beverages with non-caloric ones, such as water, results in average weight losses of 2% to 2.5%.
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ICYMI: Ms. Highlights AHA-Supported Collaborative Bolstering Clinical Scientists in the Workplace
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Read the story. More
on the collaborative.
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