The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: “Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.” The association’s impact goal is, by 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent. Heart disease continues to be the No. 1 killer of all Americans, affecting one in three people.

One hundred percent of the funds raised in New Orleans is invested back into the New Orleans community through educational outreach programs, CPR training and certification, placement of automated external defibrillators, and funding for groundbreaking medical research.

This year alone, the local American Heart Association invested almost $2.5 million into research with such institutions as Ochsner, Tulane, and Louisiana State University.

For more information about the American Heart Association, please visit www.heart.org. To reach the local office, please call 504-830-2300.