HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeart Walk 2005Page D2 The Bryan - College Station Eagle Sunday, December 25, 2005
First National Bank's Heart Walk team is ready to start the event at the Texas A &M campus.
Event Chair Ron Blatchley and his wife, Ruth, walk for the cause.
Sadie Garza, a member of the First National team, finished the walk in first place.
American Heart
Association
Learn and Live
HEART WALK
Heart Walk 2005
raises $47,000
MOLLY WATSON
About Town
Speaking about the suc-
cess of Heart Walk 2005,
Michael Neely, local
American Heart Association
director, said, "Our commu-
nity is so generous. Even
after an unprecedented out-
pouring of time and
resources for the two hurri-
cane relief efforts, our walk-
ers and business sponsors
still raised over $47,000 — a
near record for the event."
Top sponsor First National
Bank put together a great
team for the November fund-
raiser, which began at the
polo fields at Texas A &M
University. One First Nation-
al team member, young
Sadie Garza, demonstrated a
big heart by finishing the S-
mile event in first place.
BMB Homes, Aggieland
Title Co. and St. Joseph Re-
gional Health Center came in
first, second and third among
the fund- raising teams. Ron
Blatchley, chair of the
event, raised the most money
and was named the top indi-
vidual walker. Alana
Phillips and Jennifer Schil-
ling came in second and
third.
The logistics committee —
Bobbi Doyle, Denise Bermu-
dez and Julie Rich — helped
the event run smoothly.
Without these leaders and
all the volunteers, walkers,
team leaders and team cap-
tains, success would not have
been possible.
The event was posthumous-
ly dedicated to Woody
Jones, a heart transplant
patient who died at the end of
November. "Our hearts were
deeply saddened at the pass-
ing of Woody Jones," Neely
said. "Woody attended Heart
Walk and even completed the
course. He was a great cham-
pion for the American Heart
Association."
In addition to fund - raising
achievements, the associa-
tion's research, education
and advocacy efforts also are
successful. Deaths from car-
diovascular diseases and
stroke are declining,
although cardiovascular dis-
eases and stroke remain the
No. 1 and No. 3 causes of
death in the United States,
taking twice as many lives as
all forms of cancer combined,
according to the AHA.
"There is still much to do,"
Neely said. "So, we look for-
ward to seeing everyone
again at Heart Walk 2006."
• Molly Watson's e-mail address
is molly.watson@theeagle.com