The American Heart Association has awarded eight Community Impact Grants totaling $125,000 to local non-profit community groups and organizations that are helping to work towards our mission of building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
The recipients for this year’s Community Impact Grants are: Beyond Soccer – Health Kicks!, Billerica Memorial High School – Adult, Child and Infant CPR/Hands-Only CPR, Boston EMS – Life Saving Hands in Our Communities, Community Rowing, Inc. – Let’s Row Boston, Groundwork Lawrence, Inc. – Healthy on the Block/Bodegas Saludables, HMS MEDScience – HMS MEDScience Health Literacy and Cardiovascular Health, and The Open Door – Connecting Families and Children to Good Food – Making the Healthy Choice, the Easy Choice. An additional Go Red For Women focused grant was awarded to the Seafood Nutrition Partnership’s Eating Heart Healthy program.
“Each of these community groups and organizations share a mutual passion with the American Heart Association in building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular disease and stroke. These groups and organizations are working on projects that will help to build a culture of health here in Boston,” said Stefanie Smith, Director of Community Health for the American Heart Association. “This funding will help provide each recipient with the opportunities to ensure meaningful activities continue and that new, creative projects are developed.”
Today, heart disease and stroke claim the lives of over 14,500 Massachusetts residents each year. Nationwide heart disease and stroke are our No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death. The Greater Boston Division of the American Heart Association has recognized the need to support community-based activities that address our mission to build healthier lives and fight heart disease and stroke. In addition, as the American Heart Association focuses its attention on systems change, it will be important to continue to balance our work with programs in the communities we serve. For more information regarding the Community Impact Grant program, please go to www.heart.org/BostonCIG.