ByJean. T. Martin

The Selma Times-Journal

On Saturday, Feb. 24, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Selma Alumnae Chapter is hosting the Second Annual Healthy Heart Initiative, an effort to raise awareness among local women that heart disease is the number one health threat.

Individual participants are asked to register with a $5 donation and teams with a $25 donation and all proceeds will be donated to the American Heart Association. Either individuals or teams may walk in honor of one person, whose name will be displayed on a balloon around the fountain at the Selma Mall, where events begin at 9 a.m. with the Healthy Heart Walk.

From 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. free health screenings will be offered and a physician and a nutritionist will be available for consultation. And, according to Danica Taylor, co-chair for Healthy Heart Initiative Committee, Vaughan Wellness and Fitness is conducting a free aerobics class for those who want to participate.

For those who question the necessity for the Healthy Heart Initiative, Dr. Tomeko McPhillips, co-chair of the committee, has an answer.

“Although awareness of the personal risk factors in developing heart disease have increased from 34 percent in 2000 to 55 percent in 2005, most women fail to make the connection. By participating in the initiative people in Selma and surrounding counties will join thousands of individuals across the country in a unified effort to help raise awareness that heart disease is the number one killer of women.”

Delta Sigma Theta joins The Heart Truth in the campaign launching the Red Dress as a national symbol for women and heart disease awareness to deliver an urgent wake-up call to American woman. A simple Red Dress works as a visual red alert to get the message loud and clear: “Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear – it’s the #1 killer of women.”

The campaign is sponsored by: the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other partner organizations.

Delta Sigma Theta is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. A sisterhood of more than 200,000 predominately Black college education women, the sorority has more than 900 chapters in the United States, England, Japan, Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Republic of Korea.

writer’s NOTE:

Balloons may be purchased in honor of a woman with heart disease by calling 334-872-5636 or 334-872-4917.