"From Our Hearts to Yours" Records

In 2005, the New Hanover County Community Action, Inc. (NHCCA) launched Our Hearts to Yours, a heart disease awareness and education campaign directed at lower income Head Start families, and later, women of color in the broader community. The same year the NHCCA, with the assistance of the N.C. Central University School of Health Education organized an inaugural lunch-n-learn event. The event was held on February 14, 2005 UNC-W's Warwick Center Ballroom and moderated by Carissa Lawson, WWAY TV3 anchorwoman. Free exhibits, health screenings and free giveaways were provided prior to the luncheon and all attendees were asked to wear red. The event was sold out with 200 tickets sold. In addition to free health screenings by UNCW School of Nursing students, the Society of Future Health Educators (N.C.C.U.) distributed health surveys for the audience to complete.

For the next fifteen years, a From Our Hearts to Yours program was held at least once a year. The lunch-n-learn events were as follows:

• “From Our Hearts to Yours” lunch-and-learn: Held at UNC-W’s Warwick Center Ballroom on February 14, 2006, with B. Waine Kong, CEO of the Association of Black Cardiologists, as the keynote speaker. Dean Virginia Adams of the UNC-W School of Nursing moderated a panel discussion on health care strategies for women.

• “A Minute for Your Health” lunch-n-learn: Held at the Wilmington Riverside Hilton on February 14, 2007. Dr. Stephanie Kong, author of “A Minute for Your Health” provided an address. The NHCCA decided to enlist the help of local women to be "Healthy Heart Poster Girls". The concept followed the model of the Go Red poster models with the American Heart Association.

• “Climbing the Ladder to Good Health”: Held at the UNC-W Warwick Center Ballroom in 2008. The keynote speaker was Dr. Brenda Armstrong, Associate Director of Pediatrics and Pediatric Cardiology at Duke University Medical Center.

• “Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear”: Held in the Warwick Center Ballroom in 2009, with the keynote speaker being Dr. William Joyner.

• “Motherhood, Mentoring and Medicine; Lessons from the Trenches”: Held at UNC-W in 2011 with Dr. Brenda Armstrong returning as keynote speaker.

• “Women, Stress, and Cardiovascular Disease”: Held at the UNC-W Warwick Ballroom in 2012. Anganette Young, CEO of the New Hanover Community Health Center, gave the keynote address.

Other events include the “Bless Her Heart” Sundays, launching in 2008 when the NHCCA made a public plea for houses of worship to encourage members to wear red, showing solidarity for the fight against cardiovascular disease. Religious leaders were also encouraged to incorporate heart disease awareness and the need for women to maintain their health into their sermons. In 2008, the Wilmington NC Chapter of The Links, Incorporated worshiped together at Union Missionary Baptist Church on February 10, 2008 as a show of solidarity in fighting cardiovascular disease. With the help of the Wilmington Journal, Bless Her Heart Sunday was promoted for many years during the life of this initiative. In 2010, NHCCA management decided to forgo the annual lunch-n-learn event, instead partnering with St. Stephen A.M.E. Church to sponsor a jazz, orchestral, and gospel music concert. This concert, called “Heart Strings, Music for the Soul,” was held on February 07, 2010. In 2007, Cynthia Brown, Executive Director of NHCCA, received the General Mills Corporation's Sisters Saving Hearts award for her work educating the public about heart health.