by Amy Limbert
Staff Writer
More than 8,000 people are preparing to walk to raise money for a cause that’s close to their hearts — literally. However, thanks to Tropical Storm Ophelia and its high winds and heavy rains this year’s Heart Walk has been moved to next Saturday.
The American Heart Association’s annual First Coast Heart Walk will still be at Metropolitan Park. Festivities begin at 8 a.m. and the walk starts at 9 a.m. The goal is to raise more than $1.1 million for the AHA, and as of last week the fund raising had hit the $900,000 mark, said Mark Sherwood of The Stellar Group. The company is the presenting sponsor for the Heart Walk.
Sherwood said The Stellar Group does a variety of charity work annually and wanted to participate in something significant. With the Heart Walk, the company has been able to contribute financially as well as with employees participating in the walk.
“A lot of the money goes directly to research locally, at the Mayo Clinic, the University of Florida and Shands Hospital,” Sherwood said.
Although the walk has raised a significant amount of money already, Sherwood said he understands that some people might be funneling their charitable donations to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The money from the Heart Walk supports lifesaving research, programs and education.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of both men and women, claiming more than 927,000 lives in the United States last year. Here are a few more facts from the AHA:
• About 70.1 million Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease,
• In 2003, 58,002 Floridians died of cardiovascular disease. That’s 34.43 percent of all Florida deaths that year.
• More than 3,000 First Coast residents will lose their lives to cardiovascular disease this year.
• During 2005, the economic cost of cardiovascular disease and stroke in the United States is projected at $393.5 billion dollars.
• Nearly 150,000 Americans who die of cardiovascular disease are younger than 65 years old.