The American Heart Association Heart Ball 2010

"WOW" is all I can say! Attending the Heart Ball was truly a night to remember. The event took place at the Philadelphia Downtown Marriott. I was asked to not only attend this prestigious event, but to also say a few words along with my daughter, Zaire during the program. The Ball began with a cocktail reception and silent auction. I also had the sincere pleasure of meeting the beautiful Andrea Graham, Mrs N.E. Phila who was volunteering at the event. Then the guests went into the main stage area for a seated dinner and program. There was an exciting live auction with auctioneer, Renee Amoore. Ms Amoore is a successful business woman, owner and founder of The Amoore Group and in 2004, made history becoming the first female and African American to ever chair a Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican National Convention. Manuel Stamatakis was the 2010 Heart of Philadelphia Award Honoree. Mr. Stamatakis is founder, CEO of Capital Management Enterprises, Inc and the Chairman of the Board of the Drexel Univ College of Medicine. A dance party concluded the night and I have to admit that I was not expecting to jam the way that I did. Zaire and I had a great time on the dance floor! Can't tell the last time I enjoyed myself!

Exceed Magazine Radio Show

February is American Heart Month! The American Heart Association's mission is to "build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular disease and stroke."

The fabulous ladies from Exceed Magazine Radio Show, Katrena Patterson and Karen Adams focused this week's show on Heart Health. Christina Crews, Communications Dir for American Heart Assoc, Dr. Deborah Witt from Thomas Jefferson Univ and I were guest on their program. The discussion included heart disease, stroke, risk factors and prevention.

Visit http://www.exceedmagonline.com/ to learn more about Exceed Magazine and http://www.wnwr.com/ to learn more about the shows on New World Radio!

Fitness Workshop for Bright Futures Program

I love all of my speaking engagements and appearances but I absolutely adore any opportunity to engage children..."the little ones"! Today, I had the enjoyment of facilitating a health and fitness workshop for the preschoolers at Houston Elementary School. We had discussions on healthy foods and fun ways to get exercise inside of the house. I believe that I have the most fun when providing fitness workshops to children because no matter how silly I act, they just laugh out loud and try to out-silly me!! Here are some pics with the fun bunch from Houston's Preschool class!

American Heart Association's Annual Heart Walk

November 14, 2009 was an extremely proud and exciting day for me. On this day, the American Heart Association (AHA) had their annual Heart Walk at Citizens Bank Park and I was presented with the 2009 Lifestyle Change Award! The award is to recognize people who have made positive changes to impact their quality of life and improve their health. Three years ago, I was a size 16 with hypertension and by slowly changing my diet and incorporating physical activity, I managed to loose over 50lbs and now, a size 8/10. Not only did I improve my overall health, I became certified as a fitness instructor and developed a program, Baby Steps to Healthy Living (BS2HL). BS2HL facilitates fun and informative workshops to individuals, families and organizations on eating, exercise and positive emotional wellness.

Leading up to this event, organizations and individuals from all over the Delaware Valley raised money to help prevent Heart Disease and Stroke. The Walk was not only to raise money for research but to also commemorate loved ones and to celebrate survivors.

My daughter, Zaire is a stroke survivor and was amongst the many who were honored. She was given the opportunity to address the crowd to give her thanks to AHA and those who donated their time and money towards prevention of Heart Disease and Stroke.

Also part of the opening ceremonies were Mayor Michael Nutter, Brian McGarry-Heart Walk Chair, Dr. Patricia Sullivan who serves as the President of AHA's Board of Directors and also a Red Cap Survivor and NBC 10's Kristen Welker who was the MC!

Achieveability's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Achieveability is a nonprofit organization in West Philadelphia that offers an array of services to its clients. Achieveability has been working to end poverty by helping single parent, low-income families and many who were formerly homeless. They offer education, housing, job readiness programs, and major steps towards home ownership! Achieveability has a new CEO, Marcus Allen whose overall goal is to grow the organization in order to guide those who they serve on the road to self sufficiency. Here are pictures from a ribbon cutting ceremony for one of their newly renovated properties in West Philadelphia that I attended.

Please visit Achieveability's website! Volunteer, send a donation...help those who help us!

http://www.achieveability.org/

Pediatric Stroke Conference

On October 25, 2009, I was privileged to attend Children's Hospital of Philadephia's Pediatric Stroke Conference. Dr. Rebecca Ichord, neurologist and Director of the Pediatric Stroke Program at CHOP presented a very interesting lecture about what happens in the brain during stroke. We also had presentations from a few of the hospital's physical, speech and occupational therapists. The icing on the cake was hearing from the parents of stroke survivors. I was honored to be one of the parents and shared my experience surrounding my daughter's bout with stroke. Some of the parents were asked to put their stories on paper and will be documented in a book called The Spirit of Hope- Stories of Pediatric Stroke Survivors and their Families. Book will be available for purchase in November!

*Group picture are of the co-authors of The Spirit of Hope

Women Against Abuse held their second annual iPledge Campain Press Conference on Drexel University's campus. The iPledge Campaign is a citywide anti-violence movement that calls on ordinary Philadelphians to help end violence at home and in the community. We all have a duty and responsibility to help curb domestic abuse. Not necessarily physically intervening but offering help to those involved. Assist your family member, friend or neighbor in getting resources in order for them to plan a safe escape. If you have a friend who is an abuser, talk to them and strongly encourage them to change their ways. One important fact that I learned was that when an abused woman is seeking a "protection of abuse order" from their abusers, SHE (not the police/sheriff) has to serve the order. WRNB's Mo'Shay LaRen is among a large group of concerned citizens fighting to change this. Women Against Abuse's website has a plethora of resources to get educated on the issue of Domestic Abuse. Take the "Pledge" against Domestic Violence at: http://www.ipledgewaa.org/