Buehler’s Fresh Foods Raise More than $55,000 for American Heart Association

Buehler’s Fresh Foods has raised $55,043 in support of the American Heart Association’s Life is Why We Give fundraising campaign this past fall. This marks Buehler’s third year supporting the AHA in this effort by asking customers to donate $1, $3 or $5, at the register.

“Heart disease and stroke affects so many of our loved ones,” said Dan Shanahan, CEO of Buehler’s. “The American Heart Association truly makes a difference in the lives of those right here in Stark and Wayne counties, and we are honored to help bring their mission, to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, to life. This donation wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of our customers and for that, we are so grateful.”

Buehler’s donation supports both the 2021 Wayne Heart Walk and 2021 Stark Heart Walk campaigns. The dollars raised through both campaigns is used to improve the health of Stark and Wayne County residents. Currently, more than 25 percent of Stark and Wayne County residents suffer from hypertension, another 38 percent has high cholesterol and 36 percent of the population is obese. In addition, 37 percent of Stark and Wayne County residents have limited access to healthy food and 36 percent of high school students are users of tobacco products (including cigarettes, chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes).

“These numbers are staggering,” said Tracy Behnke, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the American Heart Association. “But, the community, through the American Heart Association, is fighting back. In the last year, locally, the American Heart Association taught infant CPR to our Amish population, provided blood pressure monitors and best practices for community loaner programs and equipped our schools with CPR training materials and curriculum for student training to meet state requirements. All of that was possible because of donations like those through the Life is Why campaign.”

Donations through the Life is Why campaign – no matter the amount – also allows the Association to:

• Fund research that can improve the health outcomes of heart and stroke patients;
  • Train more than 2.5 million high school students in CPR annually;
  • Support the work of local entrepreneurs and organizations working to improve health outcomes in under-resourced communities.

In addition to contributing to save lives through Buehler’s, donations can also be made directly to the American Heart Association at www.heart.org/lifeiswhywegive. To learn more about the Life Is Why We Give™ campaign and other participating companies, please visit www.heart.org/lifeiswhywegive.