The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. In everything we do, we strive to have an extraordinary impact on your life by fighting these diseases. We have set a goal for the year 2020 to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans, while also reducing cardiovascular disease and stroke deaths by 20 percent.
To make our communities safe from heart disease and stroke and help achieve our 2020 goal, we provide public health education in a variety of ways. We’re the nation’s leader in CPR education training, we help people understand the importance of healthy lifestyle choices, and we provide guidelines to healthcare professionals. We educate lawmakers and the public as we advocate for policy changes to protect the public’s health. We have funded more than $3.3 billion in research since 1949, and we’ve funded more research than any organization outside the federal government.
Heart disease is South Carolina’s No. 1 killer, and stroke ranks fourth. Each year, these diseases kill more than 813,000 Americans nationally, more than the next three causes of death combined. More than 82 million Americans have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease. Many of them suffer terribly from devastating disabilities.
However, cardiovascular diseases are largely preventable through lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, controlling blood pressure, eating foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol, being physically active, maintaining a healthy body weight and managing diabetes.
Locally, we team with volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases and change the health of our community. In the Upstate, the American Heart Association also hosts two large community events.
The Upstate Heart Walk promotes physical activity and heart-healthy living in a fun family environment. The Heart Walk is a three-mile, non-competitive fitness walk that brings together our community to fight heart disease and stroke. www.upstateheartwalk.org
The Upstate Heart Ball is one of the region’s premier black-tie events which historically attracts the city’s largest companies and most recognized corporate, healthcare and social leaders. It is a unique evening designed to celebrate the success of our year-round campaign and the generosity of individuals in our community. www.heart.org/upstatescheartball
To learn how you can become involved locally, visit heart.org or call 1-864-627-4158.