A PAD at PEPtBO

Sometimes I think it’s nice to let you know when I’m writing. Today is Mother’s Day. I almost always do the final write on Sunday and today I am thinking about how grateful I am to be a mom. My family has made my life wonderful, creative and exciting. Mother’s Day aside, today I am thinking about a cause that has been near and dear to my “heart” for many years. The annual Ride for Heart takes place on Sunday, June 2, 2013 in Toronto.

In June my family (LOML and two COM) and I have a goal of raising $5,000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Each year we have met and surpassed our goal and are happy to do it with the help of so many generous donors. We ride for the survivors of stroke and heart disease, we ride for the research and we ride for the care. This year, you have been extremely generous with your donations and I am now going to ask you to dig a little bit deeper to help a fellow rider.

Mike Foley is a local guy who just happens to be cyclist and a paramedic—my dream life—but I digress. Mike works out of the paramedic station on McFarland Drive and I am fortunate to be able to visit with him at The Industrial Perk, when he’s in for coffee, a baked treat or a sandwich. This will be Mike’s first Ride for Heart and his cause is just a little bit different than mine. Mike will be riding with a team, the Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Association, doing the EMS/PAD Challenge. For those of you who might be “challenged” by acronyms, a PAD is a Public Access Defibrillator. In particular, this PAD will be placed at the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory. PEPtBO has been hoping to attain a PAD for a number of years. “After considering the popularity of the site and its geographical location within Prince Edward County, it became evident that this would be an ideal location for a PAD and PEPtBO has been officially named as our fundraising recipient.”

So, what’s the challenge in this particular project? Well, Zoll Medical Corporation has created the EMS/PAD Challenge, a challenge within the Ride for Heart challenge— it’s all about the heart. Zoll is offering $1,000 to all EMS/PAD teams who raise at least $2,000 prior to The Ride. At this point in time, the HQPA has raised $1,725—a mere $275 short. All of the funds raised by the HQPA team will be kept in this community to be used at the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory to purchase the public access defibrillator for use at The Point. So folks, the $275 is all that is left to raise to help this amazing team get that muchneeded $1,000 from Zoll Medical Corporation. Anything over and above that amount will be gratefully appreciated and used to purchase CPR “Anytime Kits” along with additional training and equipment for use at The Point.

Two hundred seventy-five dollars! That’s the key. I’ve got my cheque ready. If you need more information, come at see me at The Perk on Thursday or Friday. If you want to leave a donation with me, terrific! I’ll pass it along to Mike. If you want to make your donation online (and you know you wanna) head over to www.rideforheart.ca then click on “Fundraise/Donate” and click on “sponsor a rider.” “Michael Foley” is the guy you want to sponsor and away you go. I’ll be waiting for you at The Perk. Mike will be checking for your donation online. A PAD at PEPtBO. Look that up in your Google search window!

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca