Our Mission
We are dedicated to serving our children who live with
heart disease. Through outreach activities, we will
raise awareness, raise research funds, and raise the
quality of life of children who battle heart disease.
We’re big hearts helping little hearts. Join
us.
Our Objectives
Thankfully, the public is aware of Pediatric AIDS, Autism,
childhood cancers, Muscular Dystrophy, MS and Cerebral
Palsy—but what about congenital heart disease?
Very little is known, and most people associate heart
disease with the elderly. They don’t know how
deeply it affects little ones.
Heartstrings America is the voice of children with heart
disease. Our objectives are to:
1. Inform and educate the
American public about heart disease in children.
2. Mobilize efforts to raise money for research.
We support research to improve current treatments, as
well as discover new cures and treatments for congenital
defects.
3. Provide services to children and families
who live with heart disease every day.
4. Find ways to improve the early detection of
congenital heart disease. CHD sometimes isn’t
discovered until a person is well into their teens or
even adulthood.
History of Heartstrings
The story of Heartstrings begins in 1956, when a 11-year-old
boy named Michael Rivard became the first person to
receive open-heart surgery in Long Beach, California.
Because the Heart and Lung Machine had not been perfected,
doctors packed Michael’s fragile body in ice,
and his temperature dropped to 81 degrees. While he
was in this hypothermic state, the surgical team was
able to stop the blood flow to Michael’s heart
for 10 minutes, long enough to repair the holes present
in his heart since birth. The event saved the life of
this young boy—and many years later he founded
Heartstrings America.
In October 2004, the organization created a stir by
holding a kite-flying extravaganza in Long Beach, and
attempting to break the Guinness World Record for most
individual kites flown at one time. This signature kite-flying
event will continue each year, in concert with many
other awareness, outreach and fundraising activities—all
aligned toward a common goal: to help little ones who
are living with heart disease.
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