Luncheon raises over $20K for Go Red for Women

The 2008 Go Red for Women Luncheon, held at the Bridgestone Firestone Learning Center, was a great success, with local business leaders, medical professionals, heart disease survivors, along with family and friends, gathering at the second annual event to celebrate the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign.

The fund-raising event collected over $20,000 in support of cardiovascular disease research.

The luncheon was well attended, with a near capacity crowd, and guests enjoyed a delicious meal with a number of local officials and businessmen graciously volunteering to wait on tables for the ladies, including County Executive John Pelham, McMinnville Mayor Royce Davenport, Ben Lomand Communications CEO Levoy Knowles, River Park Hospital CEO John McLain, Rick Stacy of Stanley and Bratcher and Bridgestone Firestone human resource manager Tony Powell, among others.

The event featured health screenings and information sessions about empowering women against heart disease. The crowd also heard powerful testimonials from cardiovascular disease survivors and those who are currently dealing with the disease, including Gail Youngblood, Dibrell principal Robbie Hitchcock, Bridgestone employee Amy Lyle and Carl K. Trosper, who lost his wife Donna to heart disease.

The keynote speaker for the 2008 event was Dr. Keith B. Churchwell, an assistant professor of medicine and associate medical director at Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute. A native Nashvillian, Dr. Churchwell graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biology and attended medical school at Washington University School of Medicine.

Churchwell said he is pleased to participate in the Go Red for Women campaign, particularly as a member of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute.

‘We have been involved with the American Heart Association and this particular event over the last few years,’ Churchwell said. ‘Trying to make a real effort to get information out about cardiovascular disease and women, and the need for us to be much more watchful and thoughtful about the fact that it does affect women to a tremendous degree.’

Churchwell says early identification and treatment is vital.

‘In cardiovascular medicine we have moved forward to a tremendous degree over the last 15 years,’ Churchwell said. ‘In terms of identifying disease, treating disease, and I think more importantly, in preventing cardiovascular disease with the use of cholesterol-lowering medication and particularly aspirin therapy’ therapies that do not have a significant impact in terms of day-to-day lifestyle, but have tremendous impact as far as reducing overall risk for disease.’

In addition to cholesterol Churchwell says women need to be very mindful of the other risk factors and make the necessary lifestyle changes to protect themselves.

‘If they smoke, they need to stop. If they have diabetes, it needs to be under control. If they have high blood pressure, it needs to be aggressively treated,’ Churcwell said.

Go Red For Women is a national, multi-year campaign to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease, the leading killer of women in America, claiming the lives of 500,000 wives, mothers, sisters and daughters each year. The initiative, which is nationally sponsored by Macy’s and Pfizer, and locally sponsored by Bridgestone Firestone Warren Plant, encourages women to take charge of their heart health by making it a top priority so they can live stronger, longer lives.