The Annual Heart Ball is on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 6:30pm at the Miramont Country Club. This year’s theme is Heart of Champions and honors Lauri Evans, who at 24 went into cardiac arrest and today lives to tell her unique and compelling story.
For the first time, the presenting sponsor for the event will be CHI St. Joseph Health. Various medical, business, and philanthropic leaders and organizations gather to celebrate what the community has done for heart research and treatments in the Brazos Valley.
This year the theme is based around the Olympics in Japan, wanting to create an experience of surviving and thriving in the world of heart disease and stroke.
“[The Brazos Valley] has over $2 million of research grants and we work with a lot of programs in our schools and in our hospitals,” says Brittany Cervantes, the corporate market director for the Brazos Valley American Heart Association.
The Brazos Valley American Heart Association benefits from this event, hoping to raise more than $300,000 to aid in their research.
“A lot of people think that a heart disease is an old man disease and it is not that at all,” says Cervantes of Evans’ story.
Lauri Evans is a wife and mother who suffered a heart attack, but was saved by a bystander who performed CPR until first responders arrived.
There will be a video presentation to tell her story and an opportunity for Evans and the first responders at the scene to say a few words about the experience.
“What we are hoping, having all of them there, is that it will make it impactful,” says Cervantes. “We really hope to strive on the importance of CPR, because it truly does save lives and a lot of people don’t know it.”
Annually this event is filled with dancing, auctions, and speeches that promote awareness. This year, there will be entertainment by The Argyles all night long.
“One of our raffle items is a trip to Japan, which is very exciting,” says Cervantes. However, winners have a choice of a trip to Japan or a necklace donated by David Gardner’s Jewelers priced at $10,000.
One of the changes this year is a plated meal provided and donated by Ben E. Keith Company, unlike the buffet guests had been served previously.
This annual event, with the help of Brazos Valley organizations and supporters, will help you learn about how you can help bring hope to the world of heart disease.
“I have learned that our community is home to some amazing hospitals and doctors offering truly exceptional health care,” says Evans.
For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.heart.org.
