HeartKids calls on all young Aussie Hop-Stars to Hop for HeartKids
HeartKids, Australia’s only charity dedicated to supporting families impacted by childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD) is rallying all kindy, pre-school and primary school kids to hop into Hoptober and help Aussie heart kids.
Hop for Heartkids is the first pre-school and school hopping challenge helping our youngest students gain healthy heart habits while raising much needed funds for kids living with CoHD.
Playschool presenter, Emma Palmer will be leading all Hop-stars around the country and is excited to be involved in the heart raising challenge.
“I’m honoured to be a HeartKids Ambassador and help Hop for HeartKids this October. By supporting these incredible children and their families, we can ensure they receive the care and support they need to live full and happy lives. So let’s get HOPPING and make a difference!”
Heart kid Stella Robinson is hoping as many kindy kids around the country will join her in the hopping challenge. Stella’s Mum Emily was one of the first to register for the challenge and for them it couldn’t be more personal.
“Stella was born in December 2019. At my 20-week scan I found out she had a large VSD (hole in her heart) that would need to be repaired. It was very stressful at that time and unknown as to what that meant.
“Stella had a long stay in hospital and then transferred to The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne for open heart surgery to repair her VSD. In total, Stella spent 103 days in hospital. I have blocked out a lot of that time now. Taking it day by day helped, along with the support from HeartKids.
“Stella is now doing fine. Loving the park, playdates with friends, and dance. This year she is at Kindergarten, starting prep in 2025. We’re excited to be involved in Hop for HeartKids and hope many more kindy kids will join us in hopping to support this amazing organisation.”
Dido Street Early Learning Centre in Kiama has signed up and looking forward to raising as much money as possible for HeartKids. Centre director, Kate McNaughton commented, “All our students are ready and raring to hop for HeartKids in Hoptober. We’ll be hopping till we drop in honour of all the children living with childhood onset heart disease. It’s super easy to register as a kindergarten and HeartKids has provided us with fun and engaging classroom resources to help our students understand why they are hopping and who we are helping.”
Kindy’s and preschools can sign up at www.hopforheartkids.org.au and there are various ways to participate. Students can hop for four minutes to remember the four children who are lost each week to CoHD, eight minutes to remember the eight newborn babies diagnosed everyday with CoHD, or hop till they drop remembering that heart conditions are the most common birth defect in Australia.
HeartKids CEO Marcus Sandmann commented, “Hop for HeartKids aims to raise awareness of the many children in our local communities who are impacted by CoHD, while giving our youngest students a fun way to take part in a heart healthy challenge. We are very grateful to all the kindys, preschools, and children who have already registered to participate and encourage as many others as possible to get involved.
“Our frontline support team embody HeartKids’ core mission. From a child’s initial diagnosis, often in utero, they walk alongside families impacted by CoHD and remain with them every step of the way throughout their lifelong heart journey. The annual cost for HeartKids to support each heart family in need is $1095 – that’s just $3 a day.
“To sustain our mission, we host a range of events throughout the year and I’m thrilled we can now add Hop for HeartKids to our annual calendar in support of the 80,000 Australians living with CoHD.”
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Media Contacts
GT Communications
Katie Rodwell, 0447 405 420
Chloe-Jayne Briffa
Shalisse Thompson
shalisse@gtcommunications.com.au
About HeartKids
HeartKids is the only national not-for-profit organisation solely focused on supporting and advocating for all people impacted by childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD), one of the largest causes of infant death in Australia.
Our support is a commitment for life because there is no known cure. We seek to give every child, teenager, and adult in Australia living with childhood-onset heart disease and congenital heart disease a fighting chance to live a long, healthy, and fulfilling life.
