AHA Zumbathon & the Washington Wizards Basketball

On Saturday, I was asked to oversee the AHA booth at the Washington Wizards Basketball game. Miss Teen China, Lauren Yee joined me, as she also does quite a bit of volunteering with the American Heart Association.

We arrived, collected our VIP passes and went to work! After we got everything set up, we went down to the court to watch the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Seahawks warm-up.

It is amazing to hear some of the stories of those who have been touched by heart disease. It reinforces that heart disease touches everyone in some way. The night was full of photos, lots of educating and photos.

There was a Zumbathon for the half time show and we were so excited to meet the facilitators. They gave Lauren and I some great Zumba bracelets! At halftime , we were taken down the special elevator to the floor where we were announced and watched the Zumbathon performance. It was so much fun! Zumba, which is a form of dance and aerobics, has an official partnership with the American Heart Association.

The highlight of the night was meeting a group of ninth grade students from a school in South Carolina. They brought their school nutritionist on their trip to Washington, DC, who was especially excited to hear about how both the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Heart Association have programs to work with teens and young adults.

My Mom made an observation about the power of the “crown and sash”. During halftime, when we were down on the courts, there was no activity at the booth even though there were plenty of people milling about. However, when Lauren and I were working the booth, we were continually busy talking to people and taking photos with fans. I always have felt that the crown and sash is the best microphone to promote a platform, an idea that is clearly true at events like this one!

 

Juliana McKee