Thursday, October 30, 2003
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- The first American Heart Association Health Walk to be held in Greenville will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday on the Thiel College campus.
The event is sponsored by Thiel, the American Heart Association and UPMC Horizon and will cover a 1.7-mile route beginning at the Howard Miller Student Center.
Richard S. Houpt, former associate dean of academic affairs at Thiel and former Greenville Borough Council president, will be the honoree.
He underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh on Sept. 30, 1999, and has been a patient at UPMC Horizon.
Houpt has since been diagnosed with congestive heart failure but still exercises and plans to attend the Heart Walk.
About the event
Participants in the Heart Walk secure pledges for the event and money raised goes for research, education and community programs.
Locally, the American Heart Association has helped place automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) at various locations in Mercer County, including the Prime Outlets at Grove City, the Jackson Center Volunteer Fire Department, the Jefferson-Clark Regional Police Department and the Shenango Township Volunteer Fire Department.
UPMC Horizon has also given AEDs to the Greenville-West Salem, Hempfield Township and Pymatuning Township police departments.
UPMC Horizon Foundation has helped buy AEDs for the Mercer County Courthouse, Jamestown EMS and Sheakleyville, Jamestown and Greenville fire departments.
Anyone wanting to participate in the walk should call John Libonati, director of Pre-Hospital Care and Community Relations for UPMC Horizon, at (724) 589-6830 or the American Heart Association at (724) 983-1055.