The third annual Tangi Heart Walk began in front of the Pennington Student Activity Center on Friday, May 4 at 12:30 p.m. and invited participants to walk one lap around campus. The community event benefitted the American Heart Association (AHA) and offered free health screenings.
“I’m a team captain for the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and my job was to get a team together to come out and walk and also raise money,” said Dr. Ashley Bowers, faculty in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. “Up to this point we’ve raised about five hundred dollars, just for our team. We’re here to be supportive of the mission of the American Heart Association and to raise awareness of heart disease and how to prevent it, to motivate people towards a healthier lifestyle.”
The AHA is the oldest and largest national non-profit health organization in the world dedicated to reducing disabilities and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. Cardiovascular disease causes more than 1.4 million deaths annually. AHA donates over $3 million annually to research in the greater New Orleans area.
“Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans and in Louisiana and it has been for the last hundred years, but the best thing about heart disease is that it is eighty percent preventable,” said Jessica Gremillion, the vice president of AHA. “That’s why we want everybody to come out and walk because walking is the easiest way to exercise and exercising greatly decreases your risk for heart disease.”
Before and after the walk, participants had the opportunity to have free health screenings in the Pennington. The screenings included blood pressure readings and body fat composition and were performed by Southeastern nursing students and Pennington employees.
“We had free health screenings, which is really important because knowing the risk is key to early detection of heart disease and that’s what saves lives,” said Gremillion. “We also had a CPR awareness area, which is really important because CPR also saves lives and the American Heart Association funded the research for CPR and maintains the guidelines each year.”
Among the participants in the walk were many students from Southeastern’s lab school.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for our young people to learn about heart disease and that exercise and good nutrition are the ways to offset that and to prolong our lives,” said Dollie Hebert-Crouch, director of Recreational Sports and Wellness. “We’re all looking for the fountain of youth. Well, here it is: exercise and nutrition. American Heart is trying to get the message out. Southeastern annually utilizes American Heart, American Cancer Society and United Way as their campus-wide philanthropies, so it’s a great way for us to get moving.”
The Tangi Heart Walk provided free water from the Student Government Association and smoothies donated by Smoothie King. It also featured music provided by KSLU-90.9FM.
“I just was walking to the Rec center to work out, and then I just stopped by and I saw that it was for a good cause,” said Karli Dutsch, a freshman majoring in nursing who participated in the walk.
A Zumba class was held in the Pennington at 1 p.m., and Tangi Heart Walk participants were allowed class registration in exchange for a donation to AHA. The American Heart Association raised approximately $3,500 from the Tangi Heart Walk.
The nearest American Heart Association office is in Metairie and caters to the greater New Orleans area. For more information on AHA, visit www.heart.org.