COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Orangetheory in College Station is bringing awareness to Heart Health Month, raising money for the American Heart Association.
Heart health hits close to home for Orangetheory Coach Hannah Jones.
”I knew that heart health is very important, my grandma has had a pacemaker since her early 20’s and my grandpa just recently got one a couple years ago," said Jones.
"So I've always had that engraved in my head, that heart health is extremely important and strengthening your cardiovascular system,”
Orangetheory is on a mission to raise $750,000 with a nationwide push, hosting two days of 90-minute donation classes
“Members are ecstatic to help in any way they can to donate to that cause, because they know Orangetheory is based on heart rate interval training,” said Jones.
As members support the initiative, they’re also working to ensure they have healthy hearts with Orangetheory's curated heart-healthy exercises.
”Eliminating heart disease and stroke, heart disease is the number one killer of Americans," said Cyd King, American Heart Association communications director.
"Stroke is the number 5, even with COVID coming on the scene causing a lot of death,”
The CDCsays nearly 700,000people have died due to heart disease, but Jones's grandparents are still alive thanks to medical achievements like pacemakers.
“Probably our research efforts, we have research efforts going on in major universities, major laboratories across the country," said King.
"Our research efforts we’re finding ways to prevent heart attack and stroke, heart disease and stroke,”
Not only does the American Heart Association provide research for lifesaving tools and techniques targeting heart health, but also educates millions of high school students each year to administer CPR.
”We’re almost 100 years old, we’ll be 100-year-old in 2024 and I think that the things that the medical achievements that happened over the last 100 years have been nothing short of life-saving,” said King.
The American Heart Association has invested 4.8 billion dollars toward medical research and Orangetheory in College Station has raised a little over 200 dollars so far to contribute.