The Children’s Heart Foundation hosted its annual Long Island Congenital Heart Walk at Sunken Meadow State Park on Sunday, May 5th. The walk brought together families from all over Long Island with a common goal of raising funds for congenital heart defect (CHD) research. This event included a family-friendly walk, research remarks by Dr. Aparna Kulkarni, activities for children, refreshments, and entertainment including appearances by Alexis Ebanks, Miss Long Island Teen 2024 and Katie Wang, Miss Long Island 2024, and A Moment of Magic’s Tinkerbell and Vidia. More than $123,000 was raised for research to save and improve the lives of those living with CHDs.
Sponsors from the Long Island area supported the event, including Cohen Children’s Medical Center Northwell Health, Coin Exchange, Catholic Health St. Francis Heart Center, Varcadipane & Pinnisi, PC, TriBoro Beverage, XGolf Commack, Shinbone Photography, Hicks Nurseries, Starbucks, and Big Geyser Inc.
The Children’s Heart Foundation is hosting 33 walks across the country this year and is the nation’s largest walk series solely dedicated to raising money to fund congenital heart defect research. Congenital heart defects, or CHDs, are America’s most common and deadly birth defect. Nearly 40,000 babies are born with a CHD each year in the U.S.; this equates to 1 child every 15 minutes.
Since 1996, The Children’s Heart Foundation has funded nearly $18 million of CHD research and scientific collaborations, helping lead to improved diagnostics, earlier interventions, groundbreaking procedures, and life-saving treatments for individuals living with CHDs. The money raised by the Congenital Heart Walk series is helping to fund the groundbreaking research of tomorrow.
To donate, please visit https://events.chfwalk.org/event/longisland/
