How the East community celebrates American Heart Month

INTRO

February is American Heart Month — it’s dedicated to bringing awareness on preventing heart disease. Read below about East’s and the Kansas City Community’s efforts to spread awareness:

DAVIS SPREADS AWARENESS

On Friday, Feb. 7, AP Bio 2 and Honors Bio students could be picked out easily — they were almost all wearing red to support heart health month, and more specifically, to begin Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) awareness week. 

CHD awareness week stretches from Feb. 7-14, with the goal of bringing awareness to congenital heart defects, which are abnormalities in the heart that form before birth. To honor the start of the week, science teacher Jennifer Davis offered extra credit to students who wore red and showed they’d explained to others their reasoning for wearing red. 

“It has a personal effect on me and I want other people to just be aware of it and know it’s out there,” Davis said.

Her son, Cutler, was born with six heart defects, so doctors had to carefully monitor him the first six months of his life. 

“He’s had two open heart surgeries, so he is what we call a CHD warrior,” Davis said. 

Cutler has inspired Davis to spread the word about how common heart disease is. According to Davis, one out of 100 babies are born with some type of heart defect. She just wants people to be aware. 

She encourages everyone to wear red throughout the rest of the month and spread the word about heart disease. Her and her family will continue to wear red to bring awareness also. 

Riley Atkinson | The Harbinger Online

BLOOD DRIVE AT EAST 

The community blood center is holding a blood drive in the Shawnee Mission East cafeteria on Saturday, Feb. 29 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The blood will go to various places around the KC area and some will benefit people with heart diseases — which is a great way to get involved during heart month, according to junior Ellie Peters, an organizer of the drive. 

Anyone is welcome to stop by, and East students will be offered three service hours for giving a pint of blood. 

The minimum age to give blood is 16, and those students will need their parents sign a form to get their blood drawn. If they’re over 17, however, no parent signature is needed. 

There will also be a bone marrow registry, although volunteers will need to be 18. This only entails swabbing the cheek — and then the participant will be on the list for the rest of their life. 

Ellie Peters has been involved in organizing the blood drive for the past few months, along with Jane Ford and Ava Peters, and they’re looking forward to making an impact in the community. 

“It’s just 20 minutes of your time, a pint of your blood, and it’ll save someone’s life,” Peters said. “Blood donations can be used for anything, and one of the ways is for heart diseases and issues . . . I’m hoping to make a big difference this year.”