It’s not Valentine’s Day yet but red paper hearts adorn walls at Siegel High School, the sheriff’s office and City Café.
The hearts show the donor contributed to the American Heart Association’ Heart Walk to raise funds to fight heart disease and strokes. Goal is $108,000.
Almost 300 people registered so far to walk in the two-mile Heart of Tennessee Start Heart Walk at noon this Saturday at The Avenue on Medical Center Parkway. Registration begins at 10 a.m.
Employees at Pinnacle Financial Partners, Girl Scouts, Best Buy and Mid-South Vet Lab will encourage the walkers throughout the event.
Murfreesboro City Councilman David Edwards serves as walk chair. He suffered a stroke last November.
Edwards expects 1,000 participants to walk and raise funds.
“We’re approaching 40 percent of our goal already raised on walkers and donations,” Edwards said. “We believe we’re ahead of schedule. Even more indicative than that is our enthusiasm throughout the community from people being involved and being a supporter is pretty high right now.”
Sheriff’s Deputy Jimmy Cassidy is coordinating the walk for sheriff’s office employees.
Employees raised money for the heart walk through donations at the dunking machine at the annual 9/11 event last week at the sheriff’s office.
“It gives us an opportunity to raise awareness for a worthy cause,” Cassidy said. “It affects every family in Rutherford County at one time or another.”
They expect to field 20 times in the heart walk.
Sheriff’s employees are selling the hearts to people who come into the office while school resource officers are selling the hearts to middle and high school students.
“We’ve got hearts everywhere,” Cassidy said.
AMA regional vice president Kelly Jackson said Siegel High School students and faculty purchased about 1,300 hearts.
“They’ve done a great job,” Jackson said of the students and sheriff’s employees.
Top fundraisers so far include Edwards, Bill Taylor of Bill Taylor Bushido School of Karate, Geoff Dykes of Mid-South Vet Lab, Richard Sly of Schneider Electric in Smyrna and Lori Caldwell of Bridgestone-Firestone.
Teams raising the most money include Bill Taylor Bushido School of Karate at $5,000, the sheriff’s office at $4,000 and Pinnacle Financial Partners at $2,800.
Registered walkers will stride two miles beginning at Embassy Suites for registration and through The Avenue. Besides the walk, the event includes a Kid’s Zone with the inflatable bounce house and face painting. For adults, Middle Tennessee Medical Center will screen for body mass index and blood pressure. Total Family Rehabilitation will conduct nerve screenings.
AHA will recognize lifestyle change winners who lost 100 pounds and change their eating habits to healthier ones, Jackson said.
MTMC and Schneider Electric in Smyrna and La Vergne will receive Fit Friendly Company awards for providing opportunities for employees to get adequate exercise, encourage healthy eating options and build a “culture of wellness within the company,” Jackson said.
She encouraged walkers to keep walking after the event.
“You should walk for the loved ones who would miss you if you didn’t have good fitness habits,” Jackson said. “Physical inactivity is the No. 1 controllable reason for cardiovascular disease and you can change it any time you want. You just have to take chare of your wellness.”
Lisa Marchesoni may be reached at 869-0814 or at lmarchesoni@murfreesboropost.com. |
Email
Print
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!