Events
American Heart Association celebrates 25th anniversary of Heart Walk
THE WOODLANDS — The American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary health organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Heart Walk, an event that has been instrumental in innovative breakthroughs over the last 25 years.
Since the inception of the Heart Walk in 1993, mortality rates from cardiovascular disease and stroke have plummeted by 45 percent. Each walker and each donation has helped to transform health statistics into lives saved, but there is more work to be done.
The Montgomery County Heart Walk is among 300 Heart Walks held in communities across the nation and this year organizers hope to raise $550,000. Nearly 1 million people each year walk for this singular mission, to cure heart disease and stroke. This year walkers will meet at 8 a.m. on Saturday, November 10, at Northshore Park, 2505 Lake Woodlands Drive. Individuals and teams can register online at MontgomeryCountyHeartWalk.org.
The free, family and pet-friendly event is open to the public. Walkers are encouraged to register and to raise funds that will help support the fight in their local community.
“While we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Heart Walk, our event is still focused on its initial assignment, funding groundbreaking research through the passion of walking together to change lives,” said Jim Parisi, President CHI St. Luke’s Health, The Woodlands, Lakeside and Springwoods Village Hospital, who is chairing the walk with Tyler Nordquist, District Manager of Kiewit & TIC, and community leader Thomas Smouse, Human Resource Executive with Encino Energy.
Nordquist said, “I am honored to serve and play a role in the promise of a better future for younger generations to live.”
Smouse, who also co-chaired the walk last year, said the 25th Anniversary Year for the national event is significant. “Each time someone laces up their shoes or forms a team to participate in the Heart Walk they are continuing the tradition the AHA has created for the past 25 years,” he said. “Every donation helps create new technologies such as the artificial heart valve, cholesterol drugs, stents, and the mechanical heart pump which helps extend the life of patients.”
“The American Heart Association has carved a place in the history of health by saying yes to progressing lifesaving science,” said Amilcar Avendano, MD, Cardiologist at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center and AHA Board Member. “The science of how we respond to heart disease and stroke has progressed tremendously in the past 25 years. With a new generation lacing up their shoes to participate in the Heart Walk, I am excited to see the big solutions to come.”
Each day, about 2,150 Americans die from cardiovascular disease – the No. 1 killer in the United States. Stroke, the No. 5 killer and a leading cause of severe disability, claims the lives of nearly 219,000 each year.
The Heart Walk is open to the community as all are welcome to participate and change the story of heart disease and stroke in Montgomery County. Those who walk are committed to funding research that keeps hearts beating.
This year’s sponsors for the walk include CHI St. Luke’s Health, Kiewit & TIC, TETRA Technologies, LGI Homes, 5Point Credit Union, America’s ER and Medical Centers, Houston Northwest Medical Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, STRIKE, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, Webber, Repsol, The Howard Hughes Corporation, VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa and CORE Lending – A division of Goldwater Bank.
Over the past 25 years the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association have funded $3.4 billion in research. But the work is far from done. The American Heart Association is nearing the $5 billion mark as we work to fund big ideas to pioneer breakthroughs in our understanding and treatment of heart disease and stroke.
For more information or to register for the Montgomery County Heart Walk visit MontgomeryCountyHeartWalk.org.
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