HOULTON, Maine — Second grade students at Houlton Elementary School jumped all over heart disease by participating in the annual Jump Rope For Heart.
The students raised more than $4,300 for the American Heart Association, which funds research, programs and education to fight heart disease and stroke, the nation’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers.
“This year’s top fundraiser was Kilian Willette with $360,” said Shari Good, who coordinates the program in the physical education classes each year. “Kilian worked extra hard on this event. He knows firsthand that the American Heart Association is an amazing organization.”
Willette was born with a congenital heart defect. He had his first heart operation when he was only 3 days old and another when he was 4 months old.
Today, he is a normal, energetic nine-year old that knows he has a heart condition, but isn’t phased about it at all, according to his mother, Alison. This is the 18th year that Houlton Elementary School has participated in the event and according to Good it grows bigger every year. Students have raised more than $51,000 since the program was instituted.
Jump Rope For Heart is a program that promotes physical activity and heart health through jumping rope. It is co-sponsored by the American Heart Association and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
To make a donation or to find out more about the program, call your nearest American Heart Association office or 1-800-AHA-USA1 (1-800-242-8721). One can also visit online at heart.org/jump.
