The American Heart Association is excited and humbled to announce, Thom Harvey, Chairman & CEO of Harvey Hanna & Associates (HHA) and his wife Robin have donated 1 million dollars to forward the mission of the American Heart Association in the state of Delaware. With this transformational gift, the Harvey and Hanna Family Healthy Hearts Initiative has been created.
Delaware has the third worst stroke mortality rate in the nation (52.5%), and the need to strengthen Delaware’s stroke systems of care is imperative. With hypertension the leading risk factor of heart disease and stroke, we launched the Delaware Hypertension Control Network, and are proud to have 32 participating organizations. To date, we have placed 1,570 blood pressure monitors throughout the state and have identified strengths and gaps of network partners to determine collaborative opportunities to expand impact. The Harvey Family has been alongside us in our goal to improve health for all Delawareans.
The Harvey Family’s leadership has helped to create a statewide food security program to help provide nutritious food to those in need, while raising awareness about the deadly role of hypertension in heart disease and stroke through a statewide public education campaign.
With the creation of the Harvey and Hanna Family Hearts Initiative, the impact to Delaware will be great and will continue the work that has already been done. The initiative will fund programs like the following:
- Expand the Delaware Hypertension Control Network and place 1,575 blood pressure monitors in Delaware to partnering organizations supporting our self-measured blood pressure monitoring program.
- Educate children, teachers, and parents on the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
- Expand Kids Heart Challenge health programming and provide recess equipment to 20 Delaware schools. Schools located in under-resourced communities will be prioritized.
- Deliver programmatic support for the It’s Time to Move initiative aimed at creating standardized measures for physical activity and ultimately utilized by health care professionals.
“We have supported education initiatives in the past with significant contributions to several great educational institutions,” said Thom Harvey. “We greatly value education. However, the initiatives we are starting and expanding at the American Heart Association’s Delaware Chapter will literally help save the lives of fellow citizens here in our home state of Delaware. Robin, my family, and I are “all in” with these efforts and know that our investment here will help. We further hope that it also inspires others to join in, focus, and work to help our fellow citizens live longer and healthier lives.”, Mr. Harvey added.
Mr. Harvey made the announcement at an Executives with Heart Breakfast on Friday, February 24, 2023, celebrating the Heart and Stroke Walk in Delaware. The walk is Delaware’s largest public awareness fundraising initiative. He shared that this commitment is personal for himself and his family, sharing his mother-in-law’s battle after suffering a serious stroke.
“This gift will help address stroke care and awareness in Delaware; fund community impact staff efforts; provide health education programming in schools across the state to engage the highest at-risk students; bolster hypertension efforts; empower health care providers by standardizing and integrating physical activity measures into patient software systems; and support the overarching mission of the Association, said Mr. Harvey. “My wife Robin and I, along with our entire family, are looking forward to continuing this fight against heart disease and stroke right here in Delaware.”, Mr. Harvey added.