Grade 2 students had the honor of creating the table centerpiece art for the recent 2016 Silicon Valley Go Red for Women Luncheon, a fundraiser benefiting the American Heart Association. The centerpieces consisted of clay hearts on long sticks, which were inserted into beautiful flower arrangements.

Go Red for Women is the American Heart Association’s national movement to end heart disease and stroke in women. Harker is an annual sponsor of the local luncheon, held this year on May 5 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. Harker regularly donates a basket of summer goodies, which includes a coupon for $500 off a summer camp at the school, to the event.

Attendees, who were all clad in red, enjoyed an engaging talk by keynote speaker Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of Women’s Heart Health at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Dr. Steinbaum is a national spokesperson for the Go Red for Women campaign and chairperson of Go Red for Women in New York City.

Steinbaum informed the audience that heart disease and stroke cause one in three deaths among women each year – more than all cancers combined. Fortunately, 80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented with education and lifestyle changes, she noted.

Go Red For Women inspires women to make lifestyle changes, mobilize communities and shape policies to save lives. For more information about the cause: https://www.goredforwomen.org/.