Go for a walk and do some good for everybody’s heart. February is Heart Month in Manitoba and time for the annual door-to-door fund raising campaign for the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
Amber Meszaros, one of the Area Managers for the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Manitoba, explains here what organization does here in the province.
“One of our main goals is fund raising and the reason our main goal is fund raising is because the funds that are raised are helping us to support our researchers within the province and within the country. Without the researchers doing the research, making the medical breakthroughs and finding different medications to help peoples’ heart disease and stroke or different alternatives to some of the treatments that have been developed in the past, we wouldn’t be making the advancements that we have been making in the past several years.”
Started in 1951, the Foundation is not only an authority on heart disease and stroke, it has given over $55 million to research. That research has developed programs that in turn have cut the number of deaths from heart disease and stroke by 50 per cent.
Meszaros shares here one of the latest advancements in the treatment of strokes.
“One of the biggest advancements was something called TPA. It’s a clot busting drug that was developed. So when someone is having a stroke, you’re tested by a neurologist to see if you’re eligible for the TPA clot-busting drug. And then, if you are eligible, it’s something that definitely has save several lives.”
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba has a number of fund raising activities throughout the year. Meszaros lists a few of them here.
“Some of our larger programs are our Big Bike Event, we have Jump Rope for Heart that takes place in the elementary schools across the province. Then our other largest fund raising event is our door-to-door residential campaign which takes place in February.”
Meszaros says that volunteers are always needed during the campaign. To volunteer for the door-to-door campaign in the Thompson area, contact Al Meston at 778-89-88.
Besides raising funds, canvassers also leave important information for residents regarding heart health and how to recognize the signs of stroke.
