More than 500 Bayou area residents will take steps, literally, to change tomorrow when they participate in the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk at Southdown Plantation on Saturday, November 12, 2005.

The non-competitive, three-mile walk — which begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. and the walk beginning at 9:30 a.m.— raises funds to support heart disease and stroke research and educational programs in the Bayou Region communities. It also promotes walking as part of a healthy lifestyle.

This year’s Heart Walk theme is “Change tomorrow. Today.”
This year’s chairmen, George Robichaux, Michael Guidry and Hugh Hamilton have named this walk day “A Day of Thanks.” Activities at this year’s walk include a Kids Korner, Health screenings, food, refreshments, music and much more. The Heart Walk committee is asking that participants also bring with them a can good to the walk. The can goods will be given to the local food bank to help our community in need.

Diseases of the heart are the country’s No. 1 cause of death; stroke is No. 3. Together these cardiovascular diseases kill more than 930,000 Americans each year. In the Bayou Region, 40% of all deaths are from cardiovascular diseases.

The walkers represent local companies that form teams that also include family and friends of all ages. Participants who are heart disease or stroke survivors will wear red caps sponsored by Urology Health Center that read “Fighting Back” at the event.

“Everyone knows someone affected by cardiovascular diseases like heart disease or stroke. Heart and blood vessel diseases are the leading killer of women and men in the United States and the second leading cause of death for our children,” said George Robichaux, 2005 Walk Chairman. “That’s why it’s so important for all of us to participate in the Heart Walk and do our part to help save lives.”
The fund-raising goal for this year’s event is $100,000. The Heart Walk, a national American Heart Association event that will take place in more than 600 cities this year, has raised more than $406 million for research and education in its 12-year history.

American Heart Association-funded research has yielded many important discoveries such as CPR, life-extending drugs, pacemakers, bypass surgery, the heart-lung machine and surgical techniques to repair heart defects.

The annual success of the Heart Walk is due in part to the Bayou Region businesses such as Cardiovascular Institute of the South, Houma Police Department, Terrebonne General Medical Center, South Louisiana Bank, TOPS LA #325, Schlumberger, Synergy Bank, Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office, Hibernia National Bank, Regions Bank, St. Anne General Hospital, Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, Weatherford Gemoco, Volute, Troop C, Whitney National Bank, Teche Federal Bank, SLECA, PFG Caro Foods, Nursing at Nicholls and TARC.

NutriSoy and Subway sponsor the Heart Walk nationally. Local sponsors include: Urology Health Center, Terrebonne General Medical Center, South Louisiana Bank, Hibernia Bank, SLECA, Metro Preferred Home Care, Occupational Medicine Services, Regions Bank, Vanguard Vacuum Trucks – In Memory of Teddy Duhe, and Wal-Mart.

For information on participating in the Heart Walk, Bayou Region residents can call the American Heart Association at 851-3479 or visit www.walk.americanheart.org.

About the American Heart Association
Since 1924 the American Heart Association has helped protect people of all ages and ethnicities from the ravages of heart disease and stroke. These diseases, the nation’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers, claim more than 930,000 American lives a year. The association invested more than $348 million in fiscal year 2002–03 for research, professional and public education, and advocacy so people across America can live stronger, longer lives.