Shop for a Cause

Saturday, Lauri and I worked at a table at Macy's Woodland Hills for Macy's Shop for a Cause. Macy's supports the Go Red for Women movement and the Make a Wish foundation, and allows other local charity groups to raise money by providing discount passes in exchange for donations through the event. Lauri and I ran into the Bixby softball team and three lovely young ladies who were raising money for 4-H. We had a great time and had the opportunity to meet a lot of people, share the message of Go Red with them, share a little bit about the International pageants' partnership with Go Red, and raise money for heart-health education and the research efforts of the American Heart Association.

I'm looking forward to all of the possibilities of this partnership. One in three women die of heart disease. That statistic can change and we are the cure! I know that since I began to research I have taken better care of my own heart, and honestly, it all starts with women, making the personal choice to reduce their dynamic risk factors. We can't do anything about our family history, but we can do something about our diets, exercise plans, and our own awareness. To learn more about how to you can love your heart, visit Go Red for Women online, and check out the You're the Cure advocacy group to learn more about becoming an advocate.

I'm excited to be associated with AHA and look forward to doing more throughout my year as Mrs. Oklahoma and beyond. Like Michelle Fryatt has said again and again, it's not a cause -- it's a commitment. This isn't for a year, but for a lifetime. I know too many women who have been affected by heart disease to allow my work with AHA to end after my year of service. My first passion will always be to help families through the difficult transitions of divorce and separation, but in order to help children and families and couples, we have to be there for them, literally, and that means taking care of our health and taking care of our hearts specifically. My year as Mrs. Oklahoma is just the beginning...