South Central Affiliate

Like most all nonprofits and most businesses, the past year has been a challenging one. With your help, we have continued to focus on our mission to help people live healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and make a strong impact. The first four months of the 2009-10 fiscal year have shown some promising signs. We have a lot for which to be thankful. Compared to last year, our fall Heart Walks are up $400,000; our Heart Ball revenue is up $300,000; and our Go Red for Women revenue is up $200,000. Our Youth Market activities are underway, and through November, we have registered over 4500 schools for our Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart programs.

Our Outright Gifts campaign is also coming in strong, anchored by a $400,000 Major Gift from the Houston Endowment for the Houston DINEs project (Dining Information and Nutrition Education), a step towards menu labeling in the Houston area. We are also continuing to be good stewards of our donor dollars and running under budget. The SCA has the strongest financial position of any affiliate in the AHA. Of course, we still have seven more months to go, so we need to keep focused on bringing in the revenue needed to fund our dynamic health impact goals. You are vital to these efforts.

Currently, the association is measuring three important categories that define our collective success: Corporate Sponsorship, Heart Walk Participant Income and the overall growth of our special events. At the end of October, the SCA had an $800,000 increase in sponsorship (which is a 43 percent increase) and was ranked number one among affiliates. We are also the top affiliate in walker participant income, and the only affiliate with an increase. And we are up a total of $900,000 in special events!

The South Central Affiliate is leading the country in each of these critical categories, and these results are a real tribute to the hard work so many of our volunteers are doing. In total, the SCA campaign has produced 18 percent growth over last year — which puts our affiliate in first place, and nearly three times greater than the affiliate in second place!

This success should inspire and encourage all SCA volunteers with events yet to come this fiscal year, and those already hard at work for fall 2010. We have a lot to be proud of, but of course, we cannot take anything for granted. With your help, we will keep the momentum going and finish the fiscal year strong. Thank you again for your efforts and your support over the past 12 months.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of walkers from Albuquerque to Austin to Arkansas venture outside to walk in support of the American Heart Association. This fall, the SCA hosted 28 Start! Heart Walks mostly in Texas, as part of the AHA’s Start! national wellness program, which encourages all Americans and their employers to live longer, more heart-healthy lives by walking 365 days a year. Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico walks occur mostly in the spring.

The Dallas Heart Walk was again the number one Heart Walk in the country. Over 25,000 people and 40 new companies participated in the soggy, rain-drenched event and helped raise over $2.8 million. The event would not have been successful without the combined efforts of the three cause sponsors — Tenet Healthcare, Perot Systems and Frito-Lay — and their employees; Aetna Foundation (the first Dallas Heart Walk Signature Sponsor); event Chair, Al Carey, President and CEO of Frito-Lay; Honorary Heart Walk Chair Mayor Tom Leppert; and all the executive champions whose companies continue to provide support and awareness each year.

But Dallas was not the only success recorded this fall for the SCA. Throughout the Affiliate, volunteers and staff have worked together to produce exciting community-driven events, that have helped raise funds and educate people about cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Here’s a round-up of some of the Heart Walks across the SCA:

Houston - They’re breaking records down in Houston! An estimated 25,000 Houstonians participated in the 2009 Start! Houston Heart Walk. Together, the Houston community raised more than $1.5 million, recruited a record number of top walkers for Houston, and collected the highest amount of money raised online for Houston.

Montgomery County (Texas) – One of the highlights from the 2009 Start! Montgomery County Heart Walk, which raised just over $225,000, was the story of 13-year-old walker Ashley Lachterman. A first time Heart Walker, Ashley led a team of friends to raise over $4,000 as part of her Bat Mitzvah. The girls had such a good time that they have pledged to return next year as a team. The Chair for the Heart Walk was Edgar Anderson, President of Maritech Resources and the Start! Cause Sponsor was Tom Pisula Development.

Longview, TX – Through the combined efforts of team captains and company leaders, the Longview Start! Heart Walk raised $64,000. The event’s Cause Sponsor, Good Shepherd Medical Center; and the Chair of the event, Ed Banos, CEO of the Good Shepherd Medical Center was a huge part of this success.

Tarrant County (Texas) - In the Fort Worth area, the Tarrant County staff saw increases almost completely across the board this year including company and individual walker recruitment, emails and online donations. The event raised $1.2 million with 10,000 WET walkers in attendance (it rained much harder this year than during Hurricane Ike’s surprise visit to last year’s walk). The Chair of the event was Steve Newton, who recruited his niece, Ugly Betty star Becki Newton, as the Celebrity Chair of the event.

Russellville, Arkansas and Siloam Springs, Arkansas – Volunteers and staff led these two events to the largest Heart Walks in the history of these areas. Raising a combined $73,000, these two events already have volunteer support lined up for 2010.

Abilene, TX – The highlight of the event was recognizing Abilene’s individual top walker, J. W. Simpson, who has been the top walker for thirty-four years! Over 1,000 walkers helped raise $100,000 and were treated to cheers from the local cheerleading squads, face-painting for the kids and treats for the pets.

San Antonio, TX - The San Antonio Heart Walk, sponsored by Baptist Health System, occurred on November 7. This year the staff and volunteers, including Chair Mike Zucker, Chief Development Officer from Baptist Health System of San Antonio, recruited 84 companies to participate (almost 30 more than last year) and raised $480,000.

Amarillo, TX – The surprise story of this walk was Don Thompson, the CEO for Cardiology Center of Amarillo, volunteered to run the 5K race in a red dress if his company’s team met their goal of $4,000. In two weeks, the 60 employees raised over $18,000 and Don delivered on his promise by showing up in a delightfully sequined cocktail dress — what a great sport!

Austin, TX – In Austin, fundraising by individual walkers was up an impressive 69 percent over last year’s event, including 64 walkers who raised over $500 each. This increase, along with the efforts from volunteers and staff contributed to a total of just over $256,000 raised.

Start! is sponsored nationally by SUBWAY® restaurants, Healthy Choice® and AstraZeneca ®.

On November 17, the American Heart Association and the City of Arlington pulled the Guinness World Record for the largest CPR training session away from Oslo, Norway by training 4,626 Arlington area 8th graders in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Students were taught CPR via video on the JumboTron while using American Heart Association CPR Anytime kits to complete their training. The CPR Anytime kit is a self-directed, personal CPR kit that makes learning the core skills of CPR easy, convenient and affordable. It takes just 22 minutes to learn and can be done anywhere.

An official Guinness World Record adjudicator was on hand to witness the event and validate the achievement. Also on hand were Rowdy, the Dallas Cowboys Mascot; Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders; Mayor Robert Cluck; Fire Chief Robin Paulsgrove; AISD Superintendent Jerry McCullough; and Dallas Cowboys Defensive End Marcus Spears.

The mass training session was an initiative of the CPaRlington program. CPaRlington began in 2005 when Mayor Robert Cluck, a physician and Tarrant County American Heart Association Board Member, met with representatives of the AHA, Arlington Fire Department, and the UT-Arlington School of Nursing to discuss a project to improve cardiac arrest survival. Since the program began, approximately 25,140 Arlington residents have been trained.

For more information on CPR classes or CPR Anytime kits visit the AHA CPR Anytime Web site.

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Hands Can Do Incredible Things Hands-Only CPR can help save someone's life. See our new multimedia Ad Council campaign (check out one of the videos below), create your own hand symphony and learn how to perform hands-only CPR at the new AHA Web site.

Grammy-Award winning Gospel Artist Kirk Franklin Tours Seven Cities, Urges Audiences to Take Control of Their Health

The Power to End Stroke Campaign got a celebrity boost this summer when Kirk Franklin launched his “Fight of Our Life Health Tour” as part of the SCA’s first-ever affiliate-wide partnership and concert series featuring an artist of his caliber. The campaign gained momentum and attracted nationwide attention when local Gospel artists from each market were offered a chance to audition to be the opening act for Franklin in each city. Tapes from as far away as Florida and Indiana were submitted. In all, hundreds of acts were considered and only one or two per market won the title of opening act for Kirk Franklin, known for his unique style of hip-hop Gospel.

The tour began in Houston this past June, where more than 3,500 people attended the concert and took the Power to End Stroke pledge. The audience was treated to Franklin’s upbeat music fused with empowering messages of taking control of their health to reduce their risk for stroke. Stroke is the third leading cause of death and claims the lives of African Americans at a rate three times that of other races. “Stroke is a serious health issue that is claiming the lives of our loved ones and we are bringing increased awareness to help stop this devastation in our communities,” said Franklin, a native of Fort Worth, who also hosts “Sunday Best” on BET (Black Entertainment Television).

From there, the tour made a next-day stop in San Antonio where Franklin performed to two sold-out shows, registering more than 3,000 people for the Power to End Stroke campaign. Concert goers also had an opportunity to receive blood pressure screenings and copies of the Soul Food Cookbook. Tulsa welcomed Franklin in July along with his special guest, Crystal Aikin, the season two winner from “Sunday Best.” Nearly 4,000 people packed the Mabee Center and some 3,500 people took the pledge at the concert presented by St. John Medical Center.

Making a stop in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in August, Franklin not only invited season one and two winners from Sunday Best (Aikin and Iyana Crawley), but he also called on his nationally known Gospel artist friends Tye Tribbett and Fred Hammond to join him as he performed to a crowd of more than 7,500 and garnered nearly 2,000 pledges. The next day, the performance continued in Austin, where approximately 3,000 people were treated to a spirited performance. The pledge cause goal for Austin was met that night when more than half of the crowd joined the campaign. The Seton Family of Hospitals was the presenting sponsor of the Austin performance.

Franklin headed to Little Rock in October where he performed alongside other artists during the city-wide Luis Palau Festival and shared the health message with more than 20,000 festival goers. Concert goers received information on all of our causes and more than 1,500 people took the pledge.

The last stop of the tour had Franklin returning to the great state of Oklahoma where he was received by a sold-out crowd in Oklahoma City. Nearly 2,700 people filled the pews of the Fairview Baptist Church and overflow area for a chance to hear the international artist and to learn how they can make lifestyle changes towards healthier living. 879 people made the first step by taking the pledge that evening. The highlight of the evening was when Franklin commended septuagenarian Ken Carter, a jazz saxophonist and stroke survivor, who traveled to Oklahoma as the guest of Oklahoma City resident and SCA President, Janet M. Spradlin, Ph.D., ABPP. “I don’t think you can find anyone more suitable than Kirk Franklin to excite, convince, and inspire people to change their lifestyle and do everything they can to prevent or minimize the effects of a stroke,” she shared.

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This fall, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released “Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence”, a report on smoke-free air and acute cardiovascular events. The report finds that smoking bans are effective at reducing the risk of heart attacks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke, and further substantiates evidence that relatively brief exposure to secondhand smoke could lead to a heart attack.

The report, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also suggests the strength of association between secondhand smoke and acute coronary events is compelling and provides evidence showing a cause-and-effect relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and heart problems.

The findings also confirm data from the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General report on the consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke that stated there “is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.” Nearly 440,000 Americans die each year of smoking-related illnesses and about 38,000 of these deaths are from second-hand smoke. About 35 percent of those deaths are related to cardiovascular disease.

In conjunction with the release of the IOM report, we have updated our policy position statement on clean indoor air, and AHA CEO Nancy Brown has released a video detailing that position.

More than 20,000 doctors and medical professionals recently converged on the city of Orlando, Florida to attend the American Heart Association International Scientific Sessions 2009. The conference is structured around seven cardiovascular cores that reflect the evolution of scientific investigation and practice; include and integrate basic, clinical, population and translational science; and increase interaction among attendees.

Throughout the week, national media covered multiple papers, meetings and symposiums. Below is a compiled list of some of these highlights:

• Study: CT scans rule out heart attacks faster (Associated Press)
• New device boosts heart failure survival (Associated Press)
• Heart Disease Found in Egyptian Mummies (Wall Street Journal, also picked up by nearly 200 national and regional media outlets)
• Obesity Wipes Out Decades of Efforts to Reduce Threats to Heart (Bloomberg, also featured on PhysOrg.com and other media outlets across the country )
• Nintendo Wii may provide actual exercise: study (Reuters and featured in U.S. News & World Report, Cardiology Today and other major media )
• Heart patients lacking vitamin D more likely to be depressed (CNN, also featured in the New York Times and U.S. News & World Report and nearly 80 other news outlets.)

For more news and highlights from Scientific Sessions, check out the daily reports at sessionsdailynews.com. Get science highlights and links to conference news releases at Science News

Recently, Clyde W. Yancy, M.D., medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, began his term as the American Heart Association’s national president. Yancy, an association volunteer for more than 15 years, will serve as chief volunteer scientific and medical officer, responsible for medical, scientific and public health matters. A specialist in heart failure, Yancy is the 2003 recipient of the association’s Physician of the Year Award, presented annually to a practicing physician who has rendered outstanding contributions to the accomplishment of the organization’s mission.

Yancy was a medical research fellow when he attended his first AHA Scientific Sessions in the late 1980s. A year later he received a grant-in-aid from the AHA that allowed him to continue his research in heart failure. He also began volunteering with the AHA’s Dallas Division. “I had a wonderful experience and worked with some extraordinary people — many of whom remain close personal friends,” Yancy said.

He would later serve as division president, and then as president of the former Texas Affiliate.

“Each step of the way, it was evident that what drove AHA volunteers was not a sense of self, but a sense of purpose. What is it that we’re trying to accomplish? How can we contribute to the greater good?”

As Yancy became more involved with AHA at a national level, his volunteer activities included chairing the committee that developed Heart Profilers, the association’s online tool to help heart patients make informed decisions and participate in their own treatment. Yancy is an editorial board member with the AHA journal Circulation and also a member of the American College of Cardiology/AHA Guideline Writing Committee for chronic heart failure. He recently completed a term as chair of the Panel on Cardiovascular Devices of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“There’s something very energizing about being an AHA volunteer. It means you’re part of a group of people who contribute their time and energy and realize tangible returns. We are making a difference. That’s one reason I’m so engaged with our 2020 goal. For the first time we are making primary prevention a key component of our strategy. We’re encouraging behaviors early on that stop conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol long before they’ve become risk factors.”

Yancy was recently featured in a USA Today article on his work in helping to create a patient-centered environment at Baylor Healthcare, resulting in Baylor leading the country in lower heart failure readmission rates. Yancy has long been a champion for quality improvement initiatives to better patient care, including his work with AHA’s Get with the Guidelines Program and heart failure Ambulatory Registry.

Read more about Yancy...