February is being celebrated by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba as Heart Month, and the group is busy campaigning door-to-door to raise support for the foundation.
Mindy Wilson, program co-ordinator with the Interlake/North Eastman/Thompson chapter of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Manitoba, says the campaign's goal this year is to raise $700,000 across the entire province, and $20,000 in the Thompson area with the help of 125 volunteers.
"This is a very important campaign for us as it not only raises important funds for the foundation, but it also contributes to life-saving heart disease and stroke awareness in the province," Wilson says. "Over 6,000 canvassers reach approximately 200,000 households across Manitoba, resulting in the personal delivery of heart-health awareness material and information."
And it's not just volunteers that are helping out for Heart Month in Thompson. Boston Pizza's Give a Heart campaign ran from Feb. 1 to 14 and the restaurant also had a heart-shaped pizza sale on Valentine's Day with a portion of the sales going to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The Liquor Mart also took part in the Give a Heart campaign.
According to Wilson, Thompsonites donated approximately $20,000 in the door-to-door campaign last year. The money, she says, is distributed locally for cardiovascular research, with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba disbursing over $50 million locally since 1957.
Funds raised during the door-to-door campaign also allow the foundation to provide around 200,000 resources each year to Manitobans at no cost, including pamphlets, booklets, binders and videos and the Heart Attack and Back booklet, which Wilson says is used by many hospitals to help people who have had heart attacks.
"Funs raised through the door to door campaign have also allowed us to launch health promotion products and programs such as the CPR Anytime kit, which is an innovative, self-directed learning program designed to teach the core skills of CPR in just 22 minutes," Wilson further explains. "During CPR month in November we were able to run a pilot program called the Tree for Life with 26 schools across the province, including the Ecole Riverside School in Thompson." The schools were provided with 30 CPR Anytime kits and students were challenged to take the kits home and teach friends and family how to do CPR. Wilson says that 189 students, family members and friends of Ecole Riverside School were trained in CPR, the most of any participating schools in the province.
Schools across Manitoba will also participate in the Jump Rope for Heart program, with all of the elementary schools in Thompson taking part.
