whf logo-enews  Women's Heart Foundation Newsletter

Helping you take care of your heart October 2008
In This Issue
Order Your WEAR RED Products
Teen Esteem
HEART Act for Women-update
TCNJ an New Health Partner
Partner to Fight Chronic Disease
News Headlines
Volunteer Corner

Order Your WEAR RED Products Here

wear red boulevard banner
Your purchase supports heart disease prevention programs for women. Visit the WEAR RED for Women Store  today! Proud member of The HEART TRUTH Project.

SAVE THE DATE
Feb 1, 2009 is WHF's 5th Annual Women's Heart  Luncheon in Trenton, NJ
 
May 10
, 2009 (Mother's Day) The 6th Annual
RUN FOR MOM
Mercer County Park in NJ


Our Sponsors 
 
 
TERE FIGHETTI
Memorial
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Women's Heart Foundation
PO Box 7827
West Trenton, NJ
 
:: 609-771-9600
Greetings!

 

September 11, 2008 marked the 7th anniversary of Patriot's Day - a somber moment in our history. This day was remembered through Profiles in Courage - an event organized by Dilip Keshu to benefit the Women's Heart Foundation. The event featured keynote Jessica Melore who delivered an outstanding presentation on surviving adversity.  I want to personally thank Mr. Keshu for his generosity and warmth in spirit for putting together such a memorable evening, gathering together friends and family to support the work of the Women's Heart Foundation. I also want to thank Rosemary Guarnieri, Dilip's assistant, for managing such a successful event, and thank our attendees for supporting women's heart health. The Profiles in Courage event raised $7,500 for our charity. Some attendees stated that they wanted to seek additional donations through their company's matching gifts program, and I would like to encourage anyone to do this. Please know how grateful I am for your support as this money is very much needed to continue our mission of prevention and wellness. more on the event with photos  
 
At the Profiles in Courage event, we learned the story of Jessica Melore who suffered a near-fatal heart attack at the age of 16. She later had to have a heart transplant and a leg amputation. She is also a cancer survivor. Jessica has come through this as a strong supporter of organ donation and works for the Sharing Network. She wants everyone to indicate on their driver's license their intent to donate their organs should an unforeseen accident occur. I was proud to introduce my friends Dolores and Phil Daly who have also survived adversity. They lost their eldest daughter Noreen to heart disease due to a rhythm disturbance, leaving behind a husband and two small children. The responder police vehicle did not have a defibrillator device onboard, a device that may have saved her life. Through the Daly family's advocacy, every police car in New Jersey now carries a defibrillator. Dolores and Phil donated Noreen's organs and bones to improve the lives of 16 others. Another inspirational message was delivered by heart surgeon Dr. Glenn Laub who spoke about Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and how thousands of lives could be saved each year through the availability of defibrillators at churches, schools, plants - anywhere there is a large gathering of people. Noreen died from SCA and Jessica nearly died from it. Dr. Laub set about to manufacture a defibrillator at an affordable price. Dr. Laub is CEO of Defibtech and he and his wife Karen are committed to saving more lives.
 
Over 350,000 people die each year from sudden cardiac arrest, and yet it is preventable. Studies show many more young people are suffering from rhythm disturbances today, perhaps due to the use of Ritalin for ADHD, perhaps due to the widespread use of allergy and asthma medications, perhaps due to illicit drug use. We need these defibrillators to be everywhere and you can now support the Women's Heart Foundation in this effort by making a tax-deductible purchase directly through the WHF website at WHF-AED store. October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month. You can help save a life by supporting the Women's Heart Foundation Save-A-Life AED program. Take care of your heart.

Teen Esteem exercises

     - Bonnie Arkus, Executive Director 

The Women's Heart Foundation, a 501c3 charity, is the only non-governmental organization that implements heart disease prevention projects and is dedicated to improving survival and quality of life. Founded 1989. Incorporated June 11, 1992. Please support the WHF wellness and prevention programs. Donate at www.womensheart.org 
 

WHF welcomes new staff to the Teen Esteem Program  

WHF is thrilled to welcome Elise McEvoy as the certified personal trainer and Lindsey W Page as the boxing instructor for the Teen Esteem program 2008-09. Elise is a junior at The College of New Jersey and on the dean's list. Her passion is to work with teen girls to help them develop a more active and healthy lifestyle. Mr. Page is a professional boxer and world-class boxing referee. He is committed to helping teen girls become more fit while also helping them learn how to better defend themselves if found in a vulnerable situation. Also joining us is dietary aide Andrea Aaronson of the Rutgers Extension Services. Andrea will co-administer the hands-on nutrition days each Thursday with preparation of heart-healthy recipes in the Teen Esteem kitchen. Meet our staff

HEART Act for Women - an update
 
The HEART Act for Women would have authorized outreach and training of healthcare providers and require gender-based reporting and analysis of data, including gender-specific information about new and investigational treatments. Legislation would have also improved heart disease and stroke screening for low-income, uninsured women. Currently, only low-income, uninsured women in 14 states have access to such screening through the CDC's WISEWOMAN program. WHF believes women in all 50 states need and deserve this cost-effective screening. The bill was first introduced by Representative Lois Capp (D-CA) in 2006. The HEART Act for Women passed the House on September 25, 2008, but did not pass the Senate. WHF would like to see a bill reintroduced that focuses solely on expansion of CDC's WISEWOMAN to be in all 50 states. WHF requests Medicare take the lead in requiring hospitals to report gender-specific outcome data.
WHF announces The College of New Jersey as a new health partner for the Teen Esteem program            
WHF is pleased to welcome the TCNJ as a new partner in reaching out to high school girls at the Teen Esteem program at Trenton High. The nursing students will be involved in helping to collect measurements during the program year so that outcomes may be gathered. A big THANK YOU to the nursing students and to Dr. Kathleen Philbin and Tami Jakubowski, RN for their support of this program.  
Do you know the costs of treating chronic illnesses in this country? The Milken Institute released a report ealier this year to tackle that question. It is the first study of its kind to estimate the avoidable costs if a serious effort were made to improve Americans' health. Assuming modest improvements in preventing and treating disease, Milken Institute researchers determined that by 2023 the nation could avoid 40 million cases of chronic disease and reduce the economic impact of chronic disease by 27 percent, or $1.1 trillion annually. They report that the most important factor is obesity, which if rates declined could lead to $60 billion less in treatment costs and $254 billion in increased productivity. The Milken Institute is a nonprofit think tank. Ross DeVol, the institute's director of health and regional economics and lead author of the study, said future economic losses from what in many cases are preventable illnesses can be stemmed just by addressing the growing obesity epidemic -- which he called "public enemy number one"-- and by early intervention. "Good health needs to be seen as an investment in economic growth," he said. The Women's Heart Foundation is proud to join in this partnership which directly aligns with the WHF mission to institute prevention and early intervention programs.
News Headlines
LindaWatson-Volunteer 
Volunteer Corner
Linda Watson proudly displays her tribute award for being recognized as WHF Volunteer of the Year. Linda tirelessly volunteers entering data into spreadsheets, manning events and organizing the WHF office. Congratulations, Linda, and many many thanks for all your help!
 
The WHF is seeking volunteers for its 6th annual Run for Mom 5K run and walk on Mother's Day at Mercer County Park. If you are able to help in any way, please contact event chair Robin Heston at rjheston@comcast.net
Safe Unsubscribe
Women's Heart Foundation | 1901 N. Olden Avenue, Suite 6A | Trenton | NJ | 08618