April 16th we at the AHA celebrated our annual Red Cap Rally. The Red Cap Rally is a wonderful celebration for survivors of heart disease and stroke. This year the Rally was held at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, where our very own Arkansas Razorbacks play their SEC football games. Now, you need to understand that the whole football connection really means nothing to me, but my beautiful and loving husband was really excited about it, so it is important to me too! It was just an overwhelming event; what an amazing experience it was to look out over the sea of red caps from the podium, and realize that our efforts at the AHA contribute to each one of those saved lives. I’m not exactly certain how many were in attendance, but early estimates were between 600 and a thousand. We were entertained by a great band made up of Cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons from across the state, and heard words from Dr. Weeks, head of Cardiology at Baptist Health. I was asked to speak about the Legislative Advocacy Committee, what we do, and how the public can help us in our efforts. I asked the attendees to sign up for the “You’re the Cure” network. You’re the Cure is the Advocacy component of the AHA, and I have served as chairman of the directorship committee for the last three years. YTC collects email and residency information from its membership and then notifies said membership when legislative issues are coming before their elected officials that need action. As little as two clicks of your mouse can contact your representatives and tell them to TAKE ACTION on these life saving measures. We were so blessed to sign up dozens of new members to our action team that night.
There are few events that I participate in where picture taking is appropriate. But, this wasn’t one of those, so I hope you enjoy the few snapshots, and enjoy getting to see some the faces that are working daily to save lives by changing laws!
0 comments:
Post a Comment