Welcome to the American Heart Association’s Mid-Atlantic Affiliate (MAA) blog! We’re excited to share how we are working with our communities to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
Teacher Copes with Newly Diagnosed Heart-Stopping Condition
On November 7, 2017, Elisheva Marks was in line to board a plane back to her hometown of Boston. The teacher was excited to return home after beginning a new job the week earlier. Unfortunately, Elisheva never made it home that day. Without warning, her heart stopped beating, and she went into cardiac arrest. Fortunately, she received bystander CPR at the airport and was administered a shock from an automatic external defibrillator (AED). When EMS arrived, she had a pulse but was still unconscious. Transported to a nearby hospital, she was put into an induced coma and put on arctic [...]
J.B. Watkins Elementary Recognized by American Heart Association as #1 School in Virginia
During the 2017-18 school year, J.B. Watkins Elementary School students in Chesterfield, Virginia took over 400 heart healthy challenges and raised over $42,000 for the American Heart Association, making them the No. 1 school in Virginia and the No. 19 school in the country for their participation with the association. Students pledged to either drink water in place of sugary sweetened beverages, eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal or exercise for 60 minutes a day. Tex Stinnett was the top donor bringing in $1,000 and winning the opportunity to throw a pie in the face of PE teacher, Corey Cotman. [...]
American Heart Association Announces 2018 Greater Maryland Heart Walk Chair
The American Heart Association is happy to announce that Brian M. White, Executive Vice President of LifeBridge Health, has been named chair of the 2018 Greater Maryland Region Heart Walk. The event will take place on October 13, 2018 at Camden Yards. White is an Executive Vice President at LifeBridge Health, the fourth largest health system in Maryland, where he oversees the operations of Sinai and Northwest hospitals. He also provides executive leadership over the system’s physician enterprise, physician strategy and network development, marketing and communications, facilities and more. At LifeBridge Health, White has worked to grow clinical programs and [...]
Walking Toward a Healthy Heart
The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week. That breaks down to at least 30 minutes per day, five times a week. So what’s the payoff? You’ll feel healthier, stronger and live longer. Research shows that regular exercise, like walking, helps lower a person’s risk of heart disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. One way to work physical activity into your daily routine is to walk with purpose. Not only is regular, brisk walking the activity of choice for millions of people, but you also are more likely to stick with walking than [...]
Volunteer Spotlight: Husband and Wife Team Teach Others How to Cook with Heart
For Chef Gordon Russell, food is much more than nourishment. It’s a unifier of people, an expression of culture, and a healer of the body, mind and soul. “I have a deep and serious passion for food and people — they are as one,” Gordan said. “We eat to live because food is a medicine that powers our bodies and structures our days, binding communities, cultures and families.” Gordon and his wife, Cheryl, are proprietors of The Welcome Table, a restaurant, culinary training center and catering company in Henrico, Virginia. For five years, they’ve been volunteer chefs for the American [...]
Walgreens Joins American Heart Association Life is Why We Give Campaign
The American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to fighting cardiovascular disease and stroke, has enlisted the support of corporations in raising funds for the cause. When consumers visit Walgreens from June 15 – June 30, they will have the opportunity to give to the American Heart Association via the Life Is Why We Give™ fundraising campaign. Walgreens joins other area businesses like Advanced Auto Parts, Kroger, Belk and more in helping the American Heart Association to fight heart disease and stroke – the number one and number five causes of death in America. In Walgreens stores [...]
DC Council Approves $2 Cigarette Tax Increase
On May 29, the DC Council unanimously approved its 2019 budget, including $1 million new dollars for tobacco cessation programs at the DC Department of Health and funding to implement Washington, DC’s Tobacco 21 law. This was made possible by a 10-2 Council vote on May 15, which raised the District’s cigarette tax by $2, to $4.50/pack. This legislation will make DC’s state cigarette tax the highest in the nation, and is projected to prevent 2,000 deaths, help over 5,000 adults quit, and reduce youth smoking by 21%. The legislation was introduced and championed by Councilmember Vincent Gray. AHA led [...]
5th Annual Triangle Jazz Brunch
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s 5th Annual Triangle Power To End Stroke Jazz Brunch and Celebration was held on Saturday, June 2 at the Durham Center for Senior Life. The brunch was designed to narrow the knowledge gap about stroke. This year’s event also focused on health equity and social determinants of health with an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) film showing, healthy cooking with AHA Chef N’gai Dickerson from the Triad office, fitness demonstrations provided by Dance Xross Fitness, a Check.Change.Control. high blood pressure training session, healthy brunch by Dames Chicken & Waffle, and a jazz performance by Mo’Jazz [...]
