Michaela Gagne
Survivor & Professional Speaker on Heart Health Advocacy
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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!
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
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!)!
It’s back! The 2011 Fall River Children’s Healthy Heart Festival is around the corner!
On Saturday, February 12, 2011 the 2nd 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!
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!
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!
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
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!!
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Check out the articles below!
Fall River Herald News: Gagne Still Advocating for Heart Health
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!
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!
It was exciting to have the Heart Rhythm Society’s national event held in Boston this year! I attended the event, helping out with Parent Heart Watch’s efforts to help protect children from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. It was wonderful to see so many friends from the heart health advocacy world and connect to new people who are helping to save lives.
The 2009 Boston Heart Ball was truly a breathtaking evening. The American Heart Association out-did itself in the decor, food, music, and theme of this amazing event to fundraise for prevention of the number one killer of all Americans: heart disease. Great job, AHA, on a wonderful night!!
What a fantastic day…it never fails! Lobby Day on the Hill was truly inspirational as I connected with my leaders and urged for action for heart disease and stroke with regards to NIH funding, CDC funding, and healthcare reform. I am very fortunate to have been a part of this process in being able to feel like I truly can take action with an issue so close to my heart (no pun intended!). My group was able to meet with Senators Kerry and Kennedy’s staff, and I once again was able to meet with my Representative, Congressman Jim McGovern, in person and receive his valuable support on the topics discussed.
Thank you, AHA and all of its volunteers and supporters, for another great Lobby Day!
Today has been simply amazing! I look forward to tomorrow when the American Heart Association takes the Hill to lobby for important issues we are supporting with regards to heart disease and stroke. The highlights of the trainings and events I attended today included learning some extremely important information regarding healthcare reform in this country, taking part in the AHA’s CPR Anytime Program, learning the topics we will be specifically speaking about to our representatives, enjoying a wonderful survivors’ luncheon, and participating in a workshop entitled ”Tips for Effective Hill Meetings” in which I helped to highlight what to do(and not to do!) while speaking with our Congressional leaders tomorrow. I can’t wait to lobby tomorrow for change in our country’s assistance with the number one and number three causes of death in this country.
Featured below is my being able to meet the new CEO of the American Heart Association, Nancy Brown, along with part of AHA’s Team Massachusetts, and some Secret Service friends.
Thanks for so many of my photos, as always, Jeff Foley!
Ah, yes…another year is here for lobbying in Washington, D.C. with the American Heart Association! This will be my third visit to this amazing event where hundreds of volunteers and advocates from across the country join forces to show their support in ending the number one cause of death in our country: heart disease. It doesn’t get any more powerful than seeing our sea of red flood the Capitol’s lawns as we urge our lawmakers to help us in this fight. I look forward to meeting again with Congressman McGovern, a huge champion of our cause. Senators Kennedy and Kerry have also given us tremendous support. Go Massachusetts!
On Monday we will have a great, empowering day of trainings that include learning how to effectively share our stories, gaining a greater understanding of the process of how laws come to exist, productive media communication tools, and so much more. It will be wonderful to re-connect with my fellow advocates from across the country, especially other survivors, and it will be even more exciting to once again take part in lobbying for this great cause to put an end to heart disease. Stay tuned!
Another empowering Massachusetts Conference for Women! Where else can you gather 5,000+ women with motivating speakers and inspirational presenters, and walk away feeling like you can truly change the world?? I have attended all 3 years at the conference, with my first year being a speaker and a Be the Change Award recipient. Every year it just gets better and better!
Check out what MA Conference for Women is all about! click in
I had a great night speaking to a wonderful group at Journey Studio and Spa in Hyannis. I met the amazing American Heart Association team that is behind the Cape Cod Go Red for Women luncheon that will take place Feburary 11, 2009, as well as the key sponsors and supporting women that make the event possible.
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