Michaela Gagne » Advocacy Event

2011 Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival a HUGE Success!!

Michaela — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:37:57 +0000

It was so exciting to see so many people at the 2nd annual Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival! We had great entertainment, tons of activities, top of the line prizes, healthy snacks, tremendous local organizations, and more!! It was great to donate an AED to Camp Welch of the Boys and Girls Club as well. Thank you all so much for helping to support this event and Fall River’s heart health!

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Model in StyleWeek Providence’s Go Red for Women Fashion Show Fundraiser

Michaela — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:09:08 +0000

StyleWeek Providence held an amazing fundraiser featuring heart survivors, including me! We were each paired with a local designer, and I was lucky to have an old friend, Joe Segal, as my designer. We had a wonderful time, from the beginning ideas to the final product on the runway. It was a great experience!!

Photos courtesy of Mickey Johnson

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6th Annual Parent Heart Watch National Conference – San Diego!

Michaela — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:09:13 +0000

Another tremendous conference with Parent Heart Watch!

I was very lucky to be able to speak and receive the 2011 Adult Advocacy Champion Award at the conference’s opening dinner, while also hosting a Survivors’ Track throughout the weekend. It was wonderful to meet other young survivors throughout the country and reunite with so many good friends (all while enjoying the beautiful weather and atmosphere of San Diego!)!

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2nd Annual Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival…coming soon!!

Michaela — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 02:44:40 +0000

It’s back! The 2011 Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival is around the corner!

On Saturday, February 12, 2011 the 2^nd annual 2011 Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival will be held at CD Recreation on 72 Bank Street, Fall River from 11am – 2pm. The main focus of this free-admission festival will be educating children and their families about holistic and healthy options for life. The last festival gathered over 400 members of the community and donated 2 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to local youth-serving organizations, and we look forward to an even bigger event this year!!

There will be a health fair featuring different heart-related and health-related groups, both nationally and locally. If you know anyone who is interested in having a table at our event, please do not hesitate to contact me. We are still looking for volunteers, $50 Heart of Silver Sponsors & $100 Heart of Gold Sponsors to be recognized at the event, and most importantly…everyone to come!!

Other plans for the day are in the works, but it promises to have fun activities for the kids (and adults!), offer fantastic prizes (including a Wii & iPods!) and healthy food, and overall provide a great educational community experience. I hope you are interested in being there to support our community’s health!

This event is in partnership with the Fall River Fitness Challenge and The Healthy Heart Foundation, Inc.

For more information, please contact me at michaelagagne@comcast.net or 508-567-4944!

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Help Needed! Silvia Elementary School needs an AED!!

Michaela — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:54:49 +0000

I am helping to organize a fundraiser to get an AED at Fall River’s Silvia Elementary School. A calendar will be distributed to the 600+ students at the school which will have a different raffle prize for every day of December. We would like to give away a local or chain business gift certficate for each of these prizes…please let me know if you would like to take part!

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Children in Balance Event at Silvia Elementary School

Michaela — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:38:55 +0000

Children in Balance has kicked off its educational health events again! Silvia School had a great evening of fun dance, healthy cooking, and learning about great local health resources (including a yummy farmer’s market!). The students and their families had an awesome time, and it will be wonerful to watch this program continue to have events at the remaining elementary schools!

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Camp Meridian!

Michaela — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:42:15 +0000

Another awesome year with Camp Meridian! Camp Meridian is a free overnight camp for boys and girls ages 8-12 with heart disease. It takes place at Camp Merrowvista in New Hampshire, and it is definitely the greatest weekend you could imagine!

Many of the bunk counselors, like myself, have heart conditions as well and can relate to the struggles that these kids experience. Meeting the campers, however, you would probably never know about the challenges many of them have encountered. They are some of the most amazing children I have ever met in my life! I watched them climb rock walls, build rafts, hike, dance, you name it! Most importantly, I witnessed them build amazing relationships with one another…can’t wait till next year!

For more information on Camp Meridian: Click In

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Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival…a HUGE SUCCESS!

Michaela — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:17:16 +0000

The Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival at the Boys and Girls Club on July 25th could not have turned out any better! Hundreds of kids and their parents enjoyed the day’s events, from dance classes, to face painting, to arts and crafts with the Fall River Children’s Museum, to fun physical challenges. Families were able to benefit from 14 different local and national health-related organizations that shared their resources with the community, and healthy snacks were on hand for all. Miss Massachusetts 2009, Amanda Kelly; Miss Bristol County 2009, Brett Bimmler; and Miss Massachusetts Outstanding Teen, Brianna Bostick attended the event, along with various local and state politicians. We gave away a Wii, iPods, trampoline, scooters, and tons of sports equipment to promote a healthy and active lifestyle, and the adults had their own raffle supported mainly by gift certificates from great local businesses. In addition, we were able to donate Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to both the Boys and Girls Club and St. Vincent’s Home.

The focus of the event was the CHD (Congenital Heart Defect) Quilt Awareness Project. 50+ quilts were displayed for all to see and reflect on the children for whom this project was created. All the squares on the quilts have been made in memory or support of a child with a heart defect, and tremendous awareness was able to be raised at the event regarding CHD and its impact.

I can’t say thank you enough to all our volunteers and supporters in helping to make this day incredible!!

Please support our sponsors: Click into the Picture, and Click in Again When the Next Page Appears

Check out the articles below!

Fall River Spirit: A Show of Heart – Awareness Raised on a Local Level through National CHD Quilt Project

Fall River Spirit: National Quilt Project to Be Focus of Children’s Healthy Heart Festival This Saturday

Fall River Herald News: Gagne Still Advocating for Heart Health

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Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival!

Michaela — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:26:05 +0000

I am organizing an exciting, educational event this summer that promises to be a great time for the whole family!

Here’s the info:

Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival

Featuring the Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Quilt Project, with quilts in memory or support of children with heart defects

Saturday, July 25, 2009

10:00am – 2:00pm

Boys and Girls Club of Fall River

803 Bedford Street

FREE ADMISSION!

Free snacks and drinks

Entertainment, Fun Activities, Arts & Crafts, and Face Painting

Awesome Prize Giveaways for the Entire Family (Wii, iPods, and more!)

Fun and Educational Ways to Learn about Your Health

We are looking for volunteers and $50 sponsors for our program book!!

Click in below!

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Children in Balance Events at Fall River Elementary Schools

Michaela — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:03:35 +0000

The end of the school year has kicked off a great Children In Balance initiative that promises to continue into next school year for all of Fall River’s elemntary schools. Greene School had their event on June 11th, and Viveiros School held theirs on June 20th. This childhood obesity prevention project had great activities for the kids, fantastic community resources available, and health education for all. I had a great time participating in the two events, and I look forward to more in the Fall!

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