Time to make a difference

If you've been following me a long time, there are two things you probably thought you'd never see on this blog, photos or imagery of any kind, and a message about something serious. I'll address both deficiencies here today.

I want you all to meet someone special. This is Shevoni Charles, or simply Chevy. Chevy was born with a congenital heard defect (CHD), an abnormality of the heart that restricts blood flow through this most essential organ. And though you almost couldn't tell it by looking at her, Chevy has been through quite a bit in the year she's been on Earth.

Free spirited and precocious, she makes it hard to believe that she has endured so much. Chevy however, is one of the lucky ones. She still has a long road ahead of her but the fact that she's here today is still nothing short of a miracle. So many children born with CHD, don't quite make it, this is truly a horrible and debilitating condition.

Her mom does a much better job at conveying these struggles and also serves as an excellent resource for finding out more about CHD and also for finding ways to help:

Love Lessons of the Half Hearted
 http://www.lovehalfhearted.com/

That being said, I've decided that maybe it's time I start doing something to make a difference. I've started contributing to the American Heart Association and further to that, I'm going to go out and show my support during Heart Walk 2012. I'd like to ask for your support as well; we as Caribbean people have shown that we can do what it takes to make things successful, we as a community showed our strength when it came to supporting Anya Ayoung-Chee on Project Runway, we showed impressive camaraderie in support of our varied Caribbean nations during the Olympics.

I'd like to ask for just a portion of that support; let it be known that our people can make a difference for worthwhile causes as well. We make a great showing in support of MS research, it's high time we do something for CHD as well.

I will be going out to walk and show my support on September 22nd at Atlantic Station for Heart Walk 2012. I'd love to have a few of you out there with me in support of Chevy. Also, as part of Team Bravehearts, I've set up a donation page, you can find information on how to contribute, info on the walk, as well as any info you need on efforts to combat CHD.

American Heart Association - Heart Walk 2012
http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1010525&lis=1&supid=364614546

Please do what you can to help put a stop to this disease.

DTJ