Thank You to Our Volunteers

Like most all nonprofits and most businesses, the past year has been a challenging one. With your help, we have continued to focus on our mission to help people live healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and make a strong impact. The first four months of the 2009-10 fiscal year have shown some promising signs. We have a lot for which to be thankful. Compared to last year, our fall Heart Walks are up $400,000; our Heart Ball revenue is up $300,000; and our Go Red for Women revenue is up $200,000. Our Youth Market activities are underway, and through November, we have registered over 4500 schools for our Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart programs.

Our Outright Gifts campaign is also coming in strong, anchored by a $400,000 Major Gift from the Houston Endowment for the Houston DINEs project (Dining Information and Nutrition Education), a step towards menu labeling in the Houston area. We are also continuing to be good stewards of our donor dollars and running under budget. The SCA has the strongest financial position of any affiliate in the AHA. Of course, we still have seven more months to go, so we need to keep focused on bringing in the revenue needed to fund our dynamic health impact goals. You are vital to these efforts.

Currently, the association is measuring three important categories that define our collective success: Corporate Sponsorship, Heart Walk Participant Income and the overall growth of our special events. At the end of October, the SCA had an $800,000 increase in sponsorship (which is a 43 percent increase) and was ranked number one among affiliates. We are also the top affiliate in walker participant income, and the only affiliate with an increase. And we are up a total of $900,000 in special events!

The South Central Affiliate is leading the country in each of these critical categories, and these results are a real tribute to the hard work so many of our volunteers are doing. In total, the SCA campaign has produced 18 percent growth over last year — which puts our affiliate in first place, and nearly three times greater than the affiliate in second place!

This success should inspire and encourage all SCA volunteers with events yet to come this fiscal year, and those already hard at work for fall 2010. We have a lot to be proud of, but of course, we cannot take anything for granted. With your help, we will keep the momentum going and finish the fiscal year strong. Thank you again for your efforts and your support over the past 12 months.