Findlay Automotive seeks to help young hearts in Las Vegas

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States and continues to affect people in all stages of life. In some cases, people are born with heart conditions.

Unfortunately, heart problems in children are surprisingly common. They are, in fact, the most common type of birth defect and the No. 1 cause of death during the first year of life. Nearly twice as many children die from congenital heart disease in the United States each year as die from all forms of childhood cancers combined.

The Children’s Heart Foundation in Las Vegas has been committed to making a difference in the lives of those individuals and their families impacted by heart conditions through emotional, educational and financial support in an effort to inspire a higher quality of life for all. The Children’s Heart Foundation was founded by a passionate group of parents and Nevada pediatric cardiologists who had gained firsthand knowledge of the emotional and financial toll exacted by a child’s heart condition.

In honor of American Heart Health month in February and to support those children with heart conditions, the Findlay Automotive Group presented the Children’s Heart Foundation with $6,400.

“We give many thanks to the Findlay Automotive Group for choosing us during Heart Health month and thank them for giving us such a generous gift,” said Melissa Cipriano, Children’s Heart Foundation executive director

Findlay’s gift will be used to help children attend Children’s Heart Foundation’s annual summer camp, Camp Mend-a Heart. It is a cost-free, medically supervised camp for children ages 7-17 who were born with or develop a heart condition and are receiving medical treatment in Nevada.

Camp Mend-a-Heart is the only medically supervised camp of its kind in Nevada. It offers a camping experience with sports, arts and crafts, water games and many other recreational activities and programs associated with a traditional summer camp. Camp Mend-a-Heart is staffed by volunteer counselors, nurses and physicians who give from their hearts to help these special children.

“Because of Findlay Automotive Group, we are able to send many deserving children to our summer camp program. The generous gift from Findlay helps fund these camps,” Cipriano said.

Through Children’s Heart Foundation camps, it is the hope that these children will be able to shift their focus from their heart conditions to the richness of life that can be experienced even by those with a cardiac diagnosis. They spend time with other children just like them who understand what it’s like to have a heart condition.

Additionally, through donations from organizations like Findlay, families’ travel expenses are supplemented when preparing for and receiving heart transplants. A “families’ journey with their child is scary enough and a financial burden on top of that is why our foundation was created. We’re here to make the journey on our ‘heart warriors’ a little bit easier,” Cipriano explained.

If you would like to know more about Children’s Heart Foundation or to get more involved, visit its website at www.chfn.org