On September 26, the American Heart Association participated in Staten Island’s HealthFest 2025. The no-cost community event was held at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park, home of the Staten Island FerryHawks, and garnered the interest of over 500 registrants. The event was supported by SiCLIP (Staten Island Community-to-Clinic Linkage Implementation Program), which brings blood pressure screenings and health education to community spaces across Staten Island.
Members of the American Heart Association’s Community Impact and Youth Engagement teams hosted an engaging table, providing resources on Hands-Only CPR, updated blood pressure guidelines, and information on Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge. Attendees were shown the two steps needed to save a life: call 911 and begin pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest, around 100-120 beats-per-minute.
“The Nation of Lifesavers initiative is more than just achieving our goal of doubling out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival by 2030,” said Zeyna Flutie, Community Impact director. “Building a Nation of Lifesavers is about bridging the gaps in our community and ensuring lifesaving policies and programs reach people where they are.”
The American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge initiatives are about facilitating learning opportunities for students on how to keep their heart, body and brain healthy—while helping kids with special hearts live longer, healthier lives.
“Opportunities like Staten Island HealthFest are so important because it allows us to engage with some of our youngest community members,” Christopher Infante, development manager, Youth Engagement, shared. “We have to remember that the future of heart health is not just in the hands of our current doctors and researchers, but in the young innovators that help us champion our mission.”
In addition to the Association’s generous contributions, the event featured a Meet & Greet with NFL Alumni legends including Roman Oben, Kyle Richardson, Eric Olsen, Dominique Easley, and Jay Alford. Attendees also enjoyed healthy food tastings, exciting raffles and giveaways, as well as complimentary health services such as mental wellness check-ins, diabetes screenings, and vision, dental, and pain screenings.
Join a Nation of Lifesavers today and learn more at heart.org/nation.