The 2011 Heart Walk is scheduled for this Saturday morning, November 5th, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. WashingtonExec spoke with Aetha’s Rey Thomas about raising money for healthy hearts with the American Heart Association as well as details regarding this year’s fundraising efforts. Thomas also explained to WashingtonExec why heart disease is a big issue for the District of Columbia, and why he and his company got involved.
Organizers expect 10,000-15,000 participants for the 3 mile walk around the D.C. Waterfront and Nationals Park.
For information on how to register or donate to the 2011 Heart Walk, please find more information below.
The District of Columbia is ranked as the 44th worst state in terms of cardiovascular disease; including blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s also 49th worst for heart disease. Those statistics alone are reasons enough for us to be involved here.
WashingtonExec: How did you get involved in this year’s Heart Walk and American Heart Association?
Rey Thomas: This is actually our fourth year that Aetna has been involved with the American Heart Association and the Greater Washington Heart Walk. For us, we believe it is important to not just be a health insurance company but also to be a wellness company. The work that the American Heart Association is doing in Greater Washington, helping to reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke and the prevention of other prevalent health issues like obesity and uncontrolled blood pressure, the elimination of smoking and more, – is very, very important to us. We obviously have a lot of clients, hospital partners, and physician partners so it is a great opportunity for us to increase our visibility with them and to reach out to people specifically that are dealing with cardiovascular disease and other prevalent conditions.
WashingtonExec: Is there anything else that you would like to elaborate on as to why the event is important specifically for the Washington DC area?
Rey Thomas: The District of Columbia is ranked as the 44th worst state in terms of cardiovascular disease; including blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s also 49th worst for heart disease. Those statistics alone are reasons enough for us to be involved here. Also many children in the DC area have some of the highest rates of obesity in the nation. Clearly we have a lot of work to do and it is not just focused on adults, its children who are going to grow up with chronic health conditions like diabetes. Aetna is helping to spread the word about how we can reduce the number of people with these health issues.
WashingtonExec: Do you have a personal reason as to why this is important to you?
Rey Thomas: It is important to me as an employee of Aetna in the fact that as we want to be viewed as more than just a health insurance company. We consider ourselves a healthcare company and we do a lot of things internally to help our own employees stay healthy. We just don’t talk-the-talk we really walk-the-walk. We offer not just programs that are certainly part of getting folks healthy but we also offer financial incentives. If you are a non-smoker, if you and your spouse are non-smokers, you can save a number of dollars a month on the cost of your healthcare coverage. We also offer a program where our employees voluntarily take a metabolic syndrome test to determine whether or not they are at risk for five specific metabolic factors. If they pass those tests they can find another way to get an additional $50 discount off their healthcare coverage. Externally we also work with our clients. We have over 70 wellness programs that we offer that we can individually tailor to our clients. We’re excited and proud of the things that we are doing; not just internally but externally as well.
WashingtonExec: How many attendees are you expecting this year?
Rey Thomas: They are expecting about 10,000-15,000 people at Nationals Park. The Greater Washington Heart Walk is on November 5th. It is going to start at 8:30am and runs until 11:30am. At 9:30 there will be a live program on the stage until 10:00am when the walk will start. It is approximately a 3 mile walk that will begin at Nationals Park and goes a bit around the area down there near the River Walk Trail and down near the waterfront and ends up back at Nationals Park. There is also a 1 mile option for those who maybe can’t make the entire course. Along with Aetna there will be a lot of other companies out there with booths giving out information, giving away goodies and all of those types of things, doing massages, a Health Expo, screenings, a kids corner and a lot of fun, family friendly events will be going on during the course of the day.
WashingtonExec: Where can someone buy tickets? How can people get involved if they cannot come to the Heart Walk on Saturday?
Rey Thomas: They can go to www.greaterwashingtonheartwalk.org – there, they will be able to register online. If they can’t make it they can donate directly on website. This week the American Heart Association is giving prizes to winners this week as an incentive to email their networks and find ways to raise $25 or more. There are a lot of other ways if people can’t get there that they can donate, they can encourage other folks to donate and refer them to the website. New this year is donating by text! People can text keyword GWRWALK to # 50555 then a $10 donation will be made to Heart Walk.* The event goal is $2 million and they are at just over $1.4 million right now so all of the help that folks can give out here in the area is going to be well appreciated by the American Heart Association and Aetna! But also, we would love to DC come out, walk with us and support this truly fantastic and inspiring event.
* $10 donation to American Heart Association. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance. All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 50555 to STOP. Text HELP to 50555 for HELP. Full Terms: www.mGive.org/T