Jump Rope for Heart

Today, the American Heart Association hosted their ‘Jump Rope for Heart’ event at Orange Grove Elementary School in Gulfport. Students were having lots of fun being active and raising money for a good cause.
For the third year in a row, the American Heart Association put on the ‘Jump Rope for Heart’ event. Students raised $1,600 to support cardiovascular research.
February is American Heart Month and these students wanted to bring attention to developing heart healthy habits. American Heart Association Regional Director Laura Koury said, “Just to let people in the community know that kids are getting out and about, getting physical activity, raising money for the Heart Association locally and nationally.”
The month of hard work came to an end with a jump off between the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders to see who could jump rope the longest. It was sixth grader Janelle McCall who came out victorious. Today just happens to be her 12th birthday. “It felt good, but afterwards it hurt. I got to finally prove to my brother that I can jump better than him. It was like a big birthday present.”
There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, but the purpose of this event was to raise money to save lives within the community. Tabi Marr raised over a thousand dollars for the American Heart Association. “What made me want to raise this much money was so it can go to the American Heart Association and so it could help kids with bad hearts.”
Obesity is the number one health issue kids in Mississippi struggle with. Koury knows the importance of physical activity at a young age. “We want them to start young. We want them to get healthy lifestyles so they can carry on for their future, for their families, and everyone that they know.”