The American Heart Association (Association) is excited and humbled to announce, Thom Harvey, Chairman & CEO of Harvey Hanna & Associates (HHA) and his wife Robin have donated one 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 as 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 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 Healthy 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 an additional 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.
“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.
For nearly a century, the American Heart Association has saved and improved lives, pioneered scientific discovery and advocated for healthy public policies in communities across the country. These bold moves have helped transform the nation’s overall health and significantly reduce heart disease and stroke death rates.
Reaching for bold goals is made possible because of like-minded leaders who share in the vision of better health for Delaware like Mr. Thom Harvey and his wife Robin.
“We are just getting started on the next chapter of our relentless work to end heart disease and stroke,” said David Morris, Executive Director, American Heart Association, Delaware. “We know that we can’t achieve our monumental goals alone and are grateful to the Harvey’s for the passion and commitment they give to support the mission of the American Heart Association.”
With relentless resolve for the future of our lifesaving work and equitable health for all people, we are deeply grateful to Thom and Robin Harvey who have already boldly stepped forward to generously support our mission and are now Second Century Donors.
Driving to achieve the 2024 Impact Goal, the American Heart Association will continue to lead breakthroughs in science and technology, improve health care and advocate for federal, state, and local policies drive healthier lifestyles.