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SKS Helps Hoops For Heartâ
Street Kids Care donates money
for American Heart Association
By
TJ Jorgensen, Street Kids Softball Director
Berrien Springs, MI-
The
Street Kids Softball organization and Street Kids Care, the charitable division
of SKS, is proud to announce a monetary donation to Hoops For Heart, a
non-profit fund-raising program developed and maintained by the American Heart
Association. The undisclosed amount was
donated through the Hoops For Heart program being run through Ruth Murdoch Elementary
School in Berrien Springs, Michigan, where Joshua and Joey – my two sons – attend school.
Hoops
For Heart is an exciting basketball event held in Middle Schools across
America. While encouraging community service, it also is an educational program. Messages of staying tobacco free, eating
right and exercise as a lifestyle, are reinforced while raising dollars
critical to the development of lifesaving research.
Joey
came to me about this idea last week and I wanted to help out. Not only did we want
to help out with a cash contribution, but with our immense traffic to the
website, we wanted to promote the program to the 15,000 plus readers a week on
SKS.com and let them know more about Hoops For Heart and the American Heart
Association. I’m proud of Joey for the idea and I hope we can bring awareness
to another horrible disease that kills millions of people every year.
You
don’t have to be a doctor to save lives. Just be willing to deliver a
lifesaving message to public officials whenever you can. Maybe you’ve already
participated with the American Heart Association before by walking in a Heart
Walk. Or perhaps you’ve helped organize a gala event. Maybe you even helped
someone survive a heart attack or stroke. At moments like these, you’re the cure.
Even if you’re someone who wants to get involved for the first time, you can be
part of the cure.
You’re
the cure when you speak up for vital research funding. Or when you advocate for
public policies that advance the fight against heart disease and stroke. That’s
why Hoops For Heart and the American Heart Association, a nationwide network of
people dedicated to finding a cure for heart disease and stroke, needs
you! By
participating in Hoops For Heart, you’re helping people in your community fight
America’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers—heart disease and stroke.
Why
Hoops For Heart Is So Important
Coronary
disease is our nation's No. 1 killer; stroke is No. 3 and a leading cause
of serious disability. Every year, almost 950,000 Americans die from
cardiovascular diseases and stroke. That's about 40 percent of all deaths.
These
diseases may remain critical problems in the future because of poor lifestyle
habits among American adults and children. For example, only 1 of 10 Americans
participates in 30 minutes or more of vigorous activity every day. In
addition...
¨ Over 15 percent of children and adolescents
are overweight.
¨ 4 million children have above-normal blood
pressure.
¨ 27 million children have high blood
cholesterol.
Healthy
lifestyles -- such as eating a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol diet, getting
regular physical activity, controlling high blood pressure and avoiding tobacco
-- can help prevent heart disease and stroke. Hoops For Heart helps get this
message across to students.
If you would like to help Street Kids Care and my son, Joey, in
our fight against heart disease, please email me at tj@streetkidssoftball.com and I will
tell you the fastest and most convenient way to help. Any dollar amount is accepted.
To read more about the American Heart Association, go to www.americanheart.org.
To go back to the Street Kids Care home page, click here.
Street Kids Care was founded in 2006 through the joint efforts of
players on the Street Kids Softball teams and those in the communities in which
we live. Among the programs SKC have been involved with include:
South Bend
Medical Foundation (Blood Drive)
ESPN (magazine
subscription program)
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