Companies that support the Boston Heart Walk make a lasting impact in lives not only in our community, but also around the world. Together, we are educating families in greater Boston how easy and fun it is to live a healthy lifestyle, and we will find cures for heart disease and stroke.
This week, reporter Alana Melanson, of the Lowell Sun, visited one of those companies — ZOLL Medical, headquartered in Chelmsford, Mass. She talked to Susan Schumacher of Billerica, a volunteer and part-time administrator with the Zoll Foundation, who leads fundraising efforts for the ZOLL Heart Walk team.
From 2007 to 2018, under Susan’s leadership, Zoll teams based in Chelmsford raised a total of nearly $142,000 for the American Heart Association — a large portion of the more than $300,000 raised company-wide.
Read an excerpt from the story below. For the full story, click here.
CHELMSFORD — Zoll has long been known for its defibrillators and other medical devices that kick start hearts and keep them ticking — but employees are also working in other ways to keep hearts beating and people living long and healthy lives.
Seven teams comprised of 58 employees have been working to raise money for the American Heart Association, and they’ll be representing Zoll at the annual Heart Walk on Sept. 7 in Boston.
“What makes the American Heart Association an easy organization to promote is, they have, I think, the broadest appeal across the population,” said Schumacher, 60, of Billerica. “Heart disease and stroke covers all ages, sexes, ethnicities.”
Schumacher long served as coordinator of Zoll’s Heart Walk teams, and last year she helped boost their overall fundraising by about $28,000. Schumacher is driven by the personal impact that heart disease has had on her loved ones.
She lost her mother in 1980 at age 44, her brother in 2002 at age 41, a close friend in 2015 at age 57, and another just last year at age 67. Heart disease was the cause or a major contributing factor in all of their deaths.
Schumacher walks in their honor, and fundraises to support the AHA’s mission of contributing to heart and stroke research, blood pressure screening and tracking, and educating youth on healthy eating and how to perform CPR.