Former PM - Lady in red for a day

Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley is stepping out for heart health in an effort to help lower New Zealand’s unacceptably high rates of cardiovascular disease.

This week she will be dressed in red and leading the charge during the Heart Foundation’s annual street appeal (Friday 13 February), which is also dubbed ‘Wear Red for Heart Day’.

While commuters to Auckland City will catch a glimpse of her and her husband Burton at Britomart and the Ferry Building from 7-9am, Jenny Shipley also plans to collect within her own constituency in Newmarket from 10am to midday.

In fact, she will be among hundreds of volunteers across the country collecting money for the charity and is calling on New Zealanders to give generously.

“This is the chance for everyday New Zealanders like me to give back to charity and help others. I ask each New Zealand family to make sure they give to the collectors who will be in their area, or for you and your family members to send a donation via your cell phone.

“Just bang in ‘Heart’ and send to 4740* to make a $3.00 donation. It is critical that the Heart Foundation can fundraise at times like this because it needs donations to continue its work to help save lives and to reach out to all New Zealand families,” says Jenny Shipley.

As New Zealand’s leading heart health charity, the Heart Foundation is committed to funding heart research, promoting healthy lifestyles and improving cardiac care.

The charity needs to raise $300,000 in this year’s Valentine’s Heart Week appeal to continue its life-saving work throughout 2009.

“If we all took the time to ask around us, I’d be very surprised if anyone wasn’t affected in some way by heart disease. It really is that prevalent. When you consider cardiovascular disease (heart, stroke and blood vessel disease) is the number one killer of men and women in New Zealand, and when you consider it accounts for 40% `f all deaths annually, it shows we have a mῡjor problem.

“Losing over 11,000 people each year to a disease that is largely premature and preventable suggests there is a lot more we as a nation, and as individuals, could do. Quite simply, it is a needless waste of lives,” she says.

Jenny Shipley says Valentine’s Heart Week is the Heart Foundation’s big chance to reach out to all New Zealanders and explain why making the change to heart-healthy living is vital for long term health and well-being.

It is also a chance for schools, early childcare centres and workplaces to wear a splash of red and give a gold coin donation in support of the Heart Foundation’s work.

“Let’s face it, the more funds we can raise for the Heart Foundation, the more work it can do to lower death rates from cardiovascular disease,” she says.

ENDS

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