“On the fifth day of giving, my law firm gave to me,
Help for Heart and Stroke.”

On our Fifth day of giving, we are pleased to be donating to the Heart and Stroke foundation of Canada.

Established in 1952, the Heart and Stroke's vision is a simple one... to see that Canadians live healthy lives, free of heart disease and stroke, and they aim to achieve this goal by employing six main strategies:

Education - Heart and Stroke advisory groups consist of a variety of volunteers representing survivors, people living with heart disease, impacted family members, and medical and scientific experts. They are looked towards to provide crucial feedback and advice for the foundation to gauge its impact and strategize for the future.
Prevention - 80% of premature heart disease and stroke can be prevented,¹ making the adoption of healthy lifestyles in the Canadian population extremely important. Heart and Stroke works with schools and communities to develop policies that promote healthy habits across all demographics.
Life Saving - In Canada, we lose one life to heart disease and stroke every 7 minutes.² When cardiac arrest or a stroke occures, the rate of emergency reponse and treatment will affect the chances of survival. Therefore, Heart and Stroke is working to save lives by teaching more Canadians to recognize signs and symptoms (FAST), making more people ready to respond with CPR, increase acccess to AEDs, improve access to quality care and rehabilitation, and oversee Canada's national standards for cardiac healthcare.³
Recovery - Approximately 1.6 million Canadians are currently living with heart disease or have survived a stroke.⁴ Improving patient recovery is extremly important for lowering subsequent death rates and increasing the quality of life for survivors and their families.
Research - As with most advancements in healthcare, properly funded research plays a significant role in discovering medical breakthroughs. For more than 60 years, funds collected by Heart and Stroke have resulted in some specific research milestones, such as the first successful open heart surgery in Canada (in 1954), discovery of a hormone that controls high blood pressure (in 1980), and the ESCAPE trial that showed treating stokes by removing blood clots through blood vessels lowered deaths by 50% and reduces stroke survivor disability.⁵ Check out more Heart and Stroke research breakthroughs
Indigenous Health - Heart disease rates for Canada's Indigenous population are as high as 50% more than in the general population, with the death rate from stroke being two times higher.⁶ Recognizing that social and economic characteristics of Indigenous communities are key determining factors of overall health is paramount to the core strategy of health reconciliation. Heart and Stroke is commited to building alliances, partnerships, and collaborations that address specific concerns and works to develop tailored properties that can be implemented at the community level. Some programs already in place include CPR training in First Nation Grade 8 classrooms, increasing access and afordability of healthy food choices, lobbying for equality in rights to clean drinking water, and distribution of the HeartSmart Kids educational resource to grades K to 6 that supports healthy lifestyles.⁷ Check out more about closing the gap in Indigenous health

As with our Day 4 pick, Heart and Stroke’s selection as our Day 5 charity has been made by two of our caring staff. Our real estate manager, Julie Saliba, and our financial clerk, Joanne Stross. Like with some of our other staff and their choices, they both feel strongly about the work that Heart and Stroke is doing because each of their families have been directly impacted by heart disease. Since 1952, the foundation has invested $1.52 billion in research, the heart disease and stroke death rate has declined by 75%, and 800 researchers are currently being funded.⁸