On Friday, February 1 National Heart Month launched the Go Red For Women® campaign. The Go Red for Women and The Heart Truth are awareness campaigns by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), respectfully. Everyone was encouraged to wear red on February 1 to make it their mission to support heart disease prevention in women. The AHA and NIH began the women and heart disease movements 10 years ago, bringing awareness to women and heart disease. While progress has been significant, there's a long way to go. The truth is, women are less likely to call 9-1-1 when experiencing symptoms of a heart attach themselves. It simply doesn't occur to them to do so. The bulk of the media attention regarding heart disease is focused on men. Here are more unsettling facts:

• Heart disease causes 1 in 3 women's deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every minute.

• 90 percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.

• Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease and the gap between men and women's survival continues to widen.

• The symptoms of heart disease can be different in women vs. men, and are often misunderstood.

• While 1 in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year, 1 in 3 dies of heart disease.

The campaign message is paired with the visual of a red dress, designed to warn women that heart disease is their number one killer. The Go Red for Women campaign is especially aimed at women ages 40 to 60, the age when a woman's risk of heart disease starts to rise. But its messages are also important for younger women, since heart disease develops gradually and can start a young age.

What causes heart disease?

Heart disease affects the blood vessels and cardiovascular system. Numerous problems can result from this, many of which are related to a process called atherosclerosis, a condition that develops when plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries. This buildup narrows the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through. If a blood clot forms, it can stop the blood flow. This can cause a heart attack or stroke.

But it doesn't end there. Heart disease can take many other forms as well:

• Heart failure or congestive heart failure, which means that the heart is still working, but it isn't pumping blood as well as it should, or getting enough oxygen.

• Arrhythmia or an abnormal rhythm of the heart, which means the heart is either beating too fast, too slow or irregularly. This can affect how well the heart is functioning and whether or not the heart is able to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

• Heart valve problems can lead to the heart not opening enough to allow proper blood flow. Sometimes the heart valves don't close and blood leaks through, or the valve leaflets bulge or prolapse into the upper chamber, causing blood to flow backward through them.

For more information, please visit;

 http://www.goredforwomen.org/  

Though the Moose fraternal organization was founded in the late 1800s with the modest goal of offering men an opportunity to gather socially, it was reinvented during the first decade of the 20th century into an organizational dynamo of men and women who set out to build a city that would brighten the futures of thousands of children in need all across North America.

It was just the two remaining Indiana Lodges that kept the Moose from disappearing altogether, until the fall of 1906, when an outgoing young government clerk from Elwood, Ind., was invited to enroll into the Crawfordsville Lodge. It was on James J. Davis' 33rd birthday, October 27, that he became just the 247th member of the Loyal Order of Moose.

At the time little or no government "safety net" existed to provide benefits to the wife and children of a breadwinner who died or became disabled. Davis proposed to "pitch" Moose membership as a way to provide such protection at a bargain price; annual dues of $5 to $10. Given a green light and the title of "Supreme Organizer," Davis and a few other colleagues set out to solicit members and organize Moose Lodges across the U.S. and southern Canada. (In 1926, the Moose fraternity's presence extended across the Atlantic, with the founding of the Grand Lodge of Great Britain.)  

The Birth of Mooseheart

After careful consideration of numerous sites, the Moose Supreme Council in late 1912 approved the purchase of what was known as the Brookline Farm--more than 1,000 acres along the then-dirt surfaced Lincoln Highway, between Batavia and North Aurora on the west side of the Fox River, about 40 miles west of Chicago. Ohio Congressman John Lentz, a member of the Supreme Council, conceived the name "Mooseheart" for the new community: "This," he said, "will always be the place where the Moose fraternity will collectively pour out its heart, its devotion and sustenance, to the children of its members in need."  

So it was on a hot summer Sunday, July 27, 1913, that several thousand Moose men and women (for the Women of the Moose received formal recognition that year as the organization's official female component) gathered under a rented circus tent toward the south end of the new property and placed the cornerstone for Mooseheart. The first 11 youngsters in residence were present, having been admitted earlier that month; they and a handful of workers were housed in the original farmhouse and a few rough-hewn frame buildings that had been erected that spring.  

Addressing Need on the Other End of Life: Moosehaven

Mooseheart's construction proceeded furiously over the next decade, but it only barely kept pace with the admissions that swelled the student census to nearly 1,000 by 1920. (Mooseheart's student population would reach a peak of 1,300 during the depths of the Great Depression; housing was often "barracks" style - unacceptable by today's standards. Mooseheart officials now consider the campus' ultimate maximum capacity as no more than 500.) Still, by the Twenties, Davis and his Moose colleagues thought the fraternity should do more--this time for aged members who were having trouble making ends meet in retirement. (A limited number of elderly members had been invited to live at Mooseheart since 1915.)  

They bought 26 acres of shoreline property just south of Jacksonville, Florida, and in the fall of 1922, Moosehaven, the "City of Contentment," was opened, with the arrival of its first 22 retired Moose residents. Moosehaven has since grown to a 63-acre community providing a comfortable home, a wide array of recreational activities and comprehensive health care to more than 400 residents.

Women's Component: W.O.T.M.

Though the Women of the Moose (originally termed the Women of Mooseheart Legion) had received formal recognition as a Moose auxiliary in 1913, they at first had little structured program of their own beyond the Chapter level. That changed in 1921, when Davis met and hired a remarkable woman named Katherine Smith. It took him five years to convince her to quit her government job and go to work for him running the Women of the Moose. A stereotypical "women's program" held no interest for her, Smith argued. "So get out there and make a program," Davis retorted. She did exactly that, as the organization's first Grand Chancellor, for the next 38 years until her retirement in 1964, at which point the Women of the Moose boasted 250,000 members.It has since grown to more than 540,000, in approximately 1,600 Chapters.

Boxing

Dodge Ackerman was an SCU boxer who passed away after battling cancer. Last year, our boxing club was visited by six time World Featherweight Boxing Champion Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero who taught us about "Be the Match" a bone marrow registry for for people with life-threatening blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma or other diseases. Be The Match® connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. Be the Match will be on hand with registration kits and more information on how people can help. 

Sunnyvale PAL joins Sunnyvale DPS, Reach Potential Movement and Fremont High School for the third session of Youth & Horses. This year's program begins March 26 with an afternoon ice-breaker at the Sunnyvale Ropes Course, where eight Fremont High School students along with mentors and staff will get to know each other while Apex Adventures challenges them on the High Ropes Course. April 2 is the first of eight weekly ranch lessons held at Dream Power Horsemanship in Gilroy. There, students will learn values and work on character development through handling and riding horses. May 28 we'll celebrate our journey with a Student Showcase and Family BBQ at the ranch. The program culminates with a three day camping trip May 31 - June 2. 

The Junior Giants planning is in full swing with Commissioner/PSO Ross Spencer. The first Junior Giants season here in Sunnyvale starts June 22 with two divisions, 5-7 year old t-ball and 8-10 year olds with a pitching machine. This eight week long, non-competive baseball league teaches character development curriculum through the sport of baseball. More information will be available at www.sunnyvalepal.com as it becomes available. For more information or to volunteer, contact Commissioner Spencer at  ross@sunnyvalepal.com