The week of January 30th to February 4th boils down to three words: Heart Awareness Week. Through the purchase of paper hearts and t-shirts during the entire week, where all proceeds went to the American Heart Association, and through the attendance at the red-out basketball game on February 3rd and dodge ball game on February 4th, several PR students banded together in numerous ways to raise awareness about heart disease. The end result: $890 raised from t-shirt sales, $82 raised from paper heart sales, $170 collected at the dodge ball game, and $167 raised through donations during the basketball game. All of these were donated to the American Heart Association.

While the support of the students was crucial to the success of the event, Mrs. Hie and Mrs. Kendall were the individuals who started the project. “I remember reading a poster [about] Liz Tenbrook, a former PR graduate, either online or in the paper,” Mrs. Hie recollected. Liz had heart problems during her freshman year of college. This information impacted Mrs. Hie greatly, making her realize that any person, despite age, can get heart disease. Mrs. Hie explained, “A little later, I got an email from Kelly Whik-Bartesch,” a member of the American Heart Association, “asking if [PR would] be interested” in sponsoring a heart awareness event and collecting donations for the organization. “But, because it was educational, I asked Mrs. Kendall if she would be interested in helping out,” Mrs. Hie clarified.

Putting the pieces together for Heart Awareness Week gradually became a joint effort. Mrs. Hie organized the members of the Captain’s Council to sell t-shirts during lunch periods, while Mrs. Kendall brought together NHS members to organize different aspects of the project, including Agata Robak, Lauren Boncosky, Tyler Kendall, Bryan Klendworth, and myself.

Eventually, all the hard work paid off, with spectacular sales of the paper hearts and t-shirts, as well as the huge audience at the red-out basketball game. “The attendance was probably the biggest that it’s been for two years,” Mrs. Hie stated. She profoundly appreciated that both Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge students “came together for a good cause.”