A Message from Our Chair

It is almost impossible to talk to anyone about cardiovascular disease or stroke related illness that doesn’t have a personal story to share about a loved one they have lost to one of these diseases. My father had his first heart attack when I was in high school and he was in his early forties. After several more heart attacks and bypass surgeries, he underwent a heart transplant. He lived 10 years with the borrowed, miracle heart, and lost his life in his early 60’s. Just prior to Dad’s transplant, my mother unexpectedly suffered from a fatal stroke at the age of 50. This was all very tragic for my family, and unfortunately there are many others who have a similar tale to tell. Now that I am a parent of four wonderful children, I feel I must focus on the future and how I can have a positive impact on my health and my family’s health. By supporting the American Heart and Stroke Association (AHA) and their mission to build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke through education and prevention, I hope that I can make a difference for my family and for all Americans.

As Chair of the 34th Art for Heart in Jackson, Mississippi, I have chosen to make prevention the focus for the year. This focus perfectly coincides with the AHA’s 2020 goal, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% while reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20% by the year 2020. Prevention is a really loaded word as it pertains to our heart and brain health. To some degree it means our fate is in our own hands. The AHA has placed a priority on education and prevention through its My Life Check: Live Better with Life’s Simple 7 initiative. This is a free program for all Americans to assess their heart health, receive a personal heart score, and develop a life plan to improve their score. Having a healthy and active life style may seem to be an obvious step for many of us, but in Mississippi in particular, where we have the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it is imperative that we fund programs to begin to change these statistics.

The money raised at Art for Heart enables the AHA to continue programs for prevention in addition to the research, physician and hospital guidelines, policy initiatives and CPR training efforts that are hallmarks of the AHA’s contributions to the community. It is so important that Mississippians understand that by focusing on prevention and education, they will learn how to have a healthier lifestyle in order to save their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren. To continue to fund these and other prevention campaigns, the AHA and Art for Heart need your support this year.

Your willingness to be a part of the American Heart Association’s mission and efforts to raise the awareness around cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention throughout the city of Jackson and the great state of Mississippi is critical to our community’s improved health. It is never too late to start living healthier, and make a difference.

Sincerely,

Anna Burnett
Chair, Art for Heart 2012