Love Your Heart event to provide info , activities for heart health
By Carla Slavey
What ’ s the best way to love your heart ? It might just be by participating in the Love Your Heart information expo coming to Somerset Mall on February 3 .
The event is being put on in celebration of National Heart Health Awareness Month . It ’ s being organized by the United Way of South Central Kentucky and Community Wellness , a local telehealth company .
Vendors , informational booths , resources , fun , games and prizes await those who show up between 10 a . m . and 3 p . m .
While it ’ s being held on National Wear Red Day – and attendees are encouraged to wear their favorite red outfits – Love Your Heart is not an official Wear Red Day event . Those are held through the American Heart Association and tend to focus solely on women ’ s health . For Crystal Cox , United Way executive director , and Farrah Dobbs , wellness ambassador for Community Wellness , their event aims at bringing heart health awareness to both men and women .
Along with that awareness will be some exciting activities to enjoy in the center courtyard , such as the Catwalk event .
“ We ’ re encouraging
men and women to dress in their finest red attire , and we ’ ll do a turn on the catwalk there at center court ,” Cox said .
“ We also have other activities that are focused on getting you up and moving ,” she added , such as a cake walk , lowimpact Zumba with Teresa Hail , and chair yoga with Sherrye Tucker .
“ Some people can be intimidated by yoga , because they may not feel like they are as flexible as some of the images you see on TV ,” Cox said . “ But chair yoga is very good at taking out that risk of falling .”
Among the vendors who will be participating , Roger Colyer will be on hand to teach people how to perform hands-only
CPR .
“ When you ’ re thinking about heart health , and especially after everything that we ’ ve seen in the news just in the last few weeks with athletes and celebrities collapsing – that can happen to anyone – having that hands-only CPR training is so important because even if you don ’ t know how to do complete CPR on a person , if you know that hands-only it is clinically proven to increasing the chance of that person surviving ,” Cox said . “... Learning that skill could literally save a life .”
Community Wellness will have their own booth there , which Dobbs said will help connect people who want to seek medical help from the comfort
Farrah Dobbs , left , and Crystal Cox , right , are at the heart of the Love Your Heart event taking place February 3 .
Photo by Carla Slavey of their own home with experts who can provide that help .
The booth will not only give them information about the company , but will also be providing a free screenings and giving participants all the information they need to know to join them .
“ We ’ ll take them off to a private room , and they can have a
February 2023 SEKY - Life in Southeast Kentucky • 29