Fundraiser to promote healthy hearts

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/03/2012 (4991 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three Grade 11 students from Miles Macdonell Collegiate are hoping to help others learn about the importance of heart health.

Ana Kovic, Jamie Rakhra, and Roxana Akhmetova are enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program at the East Kildonan school. As part of the program, they’re encouraged to take part in a creative service activity.

For their activity, the students will host the Hearty Pancakes Breakfast Fundraiser, which will also educate people about heart health. The event will be held Sat., March 17  from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the school cafeteria located at 757 Roch St.

Money raised from the $5 breakfast will go towards a fundraiser for the Hero Heart Institute at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in India.

The decision to focus their project on heart health was an easy one for Rakhra after what he experienced on vacation last year.

While in India with his family his grandfather suffered from a heart attack and was admitted to Dayanand where he eventually made a full recovery.

“We thought it would be a good cause to help them out,” Rakhra said.

The students are hoping to attract 300 to 500 people for the breakfast. It will also offer a raffle and live music performed by several of the school’s bands.

“We decided to do this mostly because of Jamie’s grandfather, but it’s also important to know about this because there are so many heart problems out there,” Kovic said.

“We wanted to do something that was a global issue, and we chose health.”

Kovic, Rakhra, and Akhmetova hope their classmates and everyone else who attends the breakfast will gain a better understanding of the benefits of having a healthy heart.

“It’s important because the decisions we make now will impact us later in life,” Rakhra said.

“If we at least start thinking about things now it can make a difference.”

Kovic shares her classmate’s sentiment on the importance of students getting involved with issues that affect people here at home and abroad.

“This can help people get more involved in the local and global community,” she said.

“We don’t always think about global issues, but if we start to think about them, we’ll be more conscious about the issues.”

facebook.com/TheHeraldWpg
Twitter: @HeraldWPG

adrian.alleyne@canstarnews.com