Heart disease claims the lives of more American women than anything else, each year, and it is most prevalent among African American women due to the disproportionate tendencies towards obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. This year, Divas, MPH has taken a stand to help women take actionable steps to reducing their risk of heart disease and adopting a heart healthy lifestyle through a series of events beginning with “Love, Mom: A Mother’sDay Brunch from the Heart.”
Join us, along with our campaign spokeswoman, Joi-Marie McKenzie, on Sunday, May 13, 2012, Mother’s Day, at Ulah Bistro in Northwest Washington, DC from 12:30pm to 3pm. The event will feature a delicious 3-course heart healthy brunch, complimentary mimosas, gifts and prizes to shower your mom with, and a introduce to our 10-week summer series, Jumpstart Your HEART (Health Education, Action, Resources and Training).
We hope that you, your mother, your grandmother, and all the hearts you love will join us as we launch our heart health campaign to reverse the heart disease trend in our communities by taking the first step towards awareness, action, and a heart healthy you.
Visit the Love, Mom Brunch ticket site to reserve your seat today!
Be Happy. Be Healthy. Be There!
Divas, MPH
BREAKING: Joi Marie McKenzie, of The Fab Empire, Heads Divas, MPH 2012 Heart Health Campaign
Divas, MPH-DC is thrilled to announce our 2012 heart health campaign, Love Yourself with All Your H.E.A.R.T. (Health Education, Action, Resources, and Training). We are equally excited to introduce you to our 2012 H.E.A.R.T. campaign spokeswoman, Ms. Joi-Marie McKenzie, acclaimed writer, producer, and creator of the award-winning website The Fab Empire.
The 2012 H.E.A.R.T. campaign is built around a one year calendar of engaging, educational, and community centered outreach activities in the DC-metropolitan area. The campaign kicks off on National Wear Red Day with the first in a series of Heart Truth awareness initiatives, I <3 Her Heart: Wear Red for the Heart You Love. Women - and men - all over the country will wear the color red in honor of the heart of a woman they love. We will post, tweet, and blog their photos along with key facts and risk factors all day! In true Fab! Diva style, Joi-Marie (@DCFab on Twitter and Joi Marie on Facebook) - all decked out in red - is leading us in this initiative in honor of the heart of her mother, and fellow women’s wellness advocate, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie (@VashtiMcKenzie on Twitter).
We ask that you, too, share your picture in red with Divas, MPH on Twitter using the #hearttruth hashtag, via Facebook, or by email at heart@divasmph.org. Then take it a step further, get engaged, share facts, and learn the risk factors for yourself or for the heart of a woman YOU love. Stay connected to Divas, MPH (@DivasMPH on Twitter and Divas, MPH on Facebook) and our heart health ambassador, Joi-Marie McKenzie throughout the year for the latest in heart health news, and more initiatives and activities in the DC-metropolitan area including the 2012 Love, Mom Mother’s Day Brunch this May, the 10-week education & fitness summer series, and the community-wide day of service in November.
Be happy. Be HEART healthy. Be well.
Divas, MPH
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About Divas, MPH
Divas, MPH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to educating, empowering, and mobilizing women to create healthier communities. Divas, MPH seeks to encourage and enable women to take an active interest in achieving and maintaining total health and wellness—mind, body, and soul—for themselves, their families, and their communities through innovative and socially savvy community activities and classes, media campaigns, and events series’. Current work is based in the Washington, DC, Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan areas and the Harlem section of New York City, but the organization continues to search for opportunities to expand its outreach. For more on Divas, MPH visit www.divasmph.org.
About Joi-Marie
Joi-Marie McKenzie is the creator of The Fab Empire, an award-winning Web site site that covers society, politics, celebrities and local events in Baltimore, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. McKenzie, with her team of contributors and photographers, has successfully created a brand that speaks to the needs of young urban professionals. McKenzie also serves as a producer of entertainment content for ABC News Radio. Previously, she has freelanced for publications including The Afro American Newspaper, Clutch Magazine, NBC New York and NBC Washington. For more on Joi-Marie McKenzie visit www.joimarie.com.
A Note From the Heart by U.S. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Dear All,
February is American Heart Month, and Friday, February 3, is National Wear Red Day®. I would like to encourage you to wear red to express your personal commitment to a heart-healthy lifestyle.
Today, nearly 43 million women—one-third of all women in America—are living with or are at risk for heart disease. By some estimates, that number could rise significantly by 2030. Heart disease is also the leading cause of death among women, claiming more lives than chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and lung cancer combined. Women who suffer heart attacks are more likely to die from heart disease within a year than men, but are less likely to receive recommended care.
We’re working to change that.
Using powerful public-private partnerships that reach people where they are, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services’ Million Hearts campaign aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.
Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health launched The Heart Truth® campaign and the symbol that sparked a movement—the Red Dress®. The campaign reminds women to protect their heart health. It also honors those affected by heart disease.
Raising awareness about risks for heart disease has done more than just inform women—it is motivating them to take action. According to a national study, women who know that heart disease is their leading cause of death were 35 percent more likely to be physically active and 47 percent were more likely to report weight loss than those who were unaware. Our efforts ensure that women are aware of their risk of heart disease and help women take action to lower their risk.
Show your commitment tomorrow by wearing your favorite red dress, shirt, or tie to call attention to women’s heart health.
Together we can help American women have healthier hearts and live longer, healthier lives.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Sebelius
[Motivation Monday] An Enduring Heart
Do you remember the childhood story The Little Engine That Could? If not, let me refresh your memory!
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
A little steam engine had a long train of cars to pull.
She went along very well till she came to a steep hill. But then, no matter how hard she tried, she could not move the long train of cars.
She pulled and she pulled. She puffed and she puffed. She backed and started off again. Choo! Choo!
But no! the cars would not go up the hill.
At last she left the train and started up the track alone. Do you think she had stopped working? No, indeed! She was going for help.
“Surely I can find someone to help me,” she thought.
Over the hill and up the track went the little steam engine. Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo!
Pretty soon she saw a big steam engine standing on a side track. He looked very big and strong. Running alongside, she looked up and said:
“Will you help me over the hill with my train of cars? It is so long and heavy I can’t get it over.”
The big steam engine looked down at the little steam engine. The he said:
“Don’t you see that I am through my day’s work? I have been rubbed and scoured ready for my next run. No, I cannot help you,”
The little steam engine was sorry, but she went on, Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo!
Soon she came to a second big steam engine standing on a side track. He was puffing and puffing, as if he were tired.
“That big steam engine may help me,” thought the little steam engine. She ran alongside and asked:
“Will you help me bring my train of cars over the hill? It is so long and so heavy that I can’t get it over.”
The second big steam engine answered:
“I have just come in from a long, long run. Don’t you see how tired I am? Can’t you get some other engine to help you this time?
“I’ll try,” said the little steam engine, and off she went. Choo, choo! Choo, choo! Choo, choo!
After a while she came to a little steam engine just like herself. She ran alongside and said:
“Will you help me over the hill with my train of cars? It is so long and so heavy that I can’t get it over.”
“Yes, indeed!” said this little steam engine. “I’ll be glad to help you, if I can.”
So the little steam engines started back to where the train of cars had been standing. Both little steam engines went to the head of the train, one behind the other.
Puff, puff! Chug, choo! Off they started!
Slowly the cars began to move. Slowly they climbed the steep hill. As they climbed, each little steam engine began to sing:
“I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I think I can - I think I can - I think I can I think I can—”
And they did! Very soon they were over the hill and going down the other side.
Now they were on the plain again; and the little steam engine could pull her train herself. So she thanked the little engine who had come to help her, and said good-by.
And she went merrily on her way, singing:
“I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I thought i could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could I thought I could —”
THE END
If you believe it, you can achieve it! This story is a true testament that positive thinking coupled with an enduring heart (i.e. persistence, refusing to give up, etc.) can make what seems to be impossible possible.
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Join Divas, MPH in our 2012 digital media campaign, I <3 Her Heart: Wear Red for the Heart You Love, this Friday, February 3, 2012 for National Wear Red Day. Take a picture of yourself in red, for the heart of a woman you love, and share it one of the following ways: post to Divas, MPH on Facebook, tweet to @DivasMPH using the #HeartTruth hashtag, or email to heart@divasmph.org.
~Diva T
