The 2004 Omaha-Metro American Heart Walk is set for Saturday, May 1, at Chalco Hills Recreation area around Wehrspann Lake. Approximately 2,000 people are expected to participate in the ninth annual event.
The Omaha-Metro American Heart Walk is the largest Nebraska fund-raising event for the American Heart Association. The walk’s net goal is $375,000.
UNMC and University Medical Associates are Red Cap sponsors and will host a pre-walk breakfast at the park.
Jay Noddle, president of Pacific Realty Group, Noddle Development Co. and Origin Development Partners, will serve as chairperson for the walk, presented by CBSHome and Northern Natural Gas.
Tom Baker of The Harry A. Koch Co. is new teams chairperson.
Heart disease and stroke are the number one and number three killers, respectively, of Nebraskans. The American Heart Walk educates the Omaha-Metro area of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and what we can do to prevent it. Funds raised support local medical research and educational programs of the American Heart Association.
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Participants raise flat donations from friends and co-workers for walking the route.
Walkers will have a choice of lengths to walk (four or six miles), and tailor the walk to their own fitness levels. Participants earn prizes based on the amount of donations raised and company teams may qualify for special awards.
Over the last three years, the American Heart Association has provided about $2.3 million to help fund medical research projects involving cardiovascular disease and stroke at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha; Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha; the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; and the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. At 9 a.m. the Mayors Mile Children’s Walk, sponsored by Childrens Hospital, will begin.
Opening ceremonies for the walk begin at 9:30 a.m. Thomas Porter, M.D., associate professor of cardiology, will represent UNMC and UMA. Survivors of heart disease, stroke and related surgeries are honored at this time.
Walkers then take off at 10 a.m. and return to a Heart Festival with food, refreshments, music, sponsor booths, awards and prize drawings until 1 p.m.