Mitchell elementary is the top online fundraiser in B.C. for Jump Rope for Heart thanks to a Grade 4 student who lost her father to heart disease.
Kayla Riar was inspired to raise money for the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s school-focused program that raises awareness about healthy eating and active lifestyles after her dad passed away last year from coronary artery disease.
“I want other kids to be healthy so they can have a happy life,” Kayla, 9, said.
She set up a website and wrote down why it was important to raise money and awareness. Her initial goal was to raise $150 —so far she’s raised more than $6,700. This is one of the top online fundraisers ever for Jump Rope for Heart, noted the foundation.
In addition, Kayla’s friend, Sara, has raised $2,030 and the school in its entirety has raised more than $10,000, putting them in the top spot in the province.
Kayla said she felt “proud and excited,” starting from a small amount and eventually raising much more than first anticipated.
Kayla first shared her fundraising efforts with family and friends and then at her school, posting updates as it progressed. She chalks up her success at fundraising to her persistence: “I was not afraid to keep asking.”
Jump Rope for Heart is meant to motivate kids to be active and reinforce healthy habits. Other goals of the program are teaching social responsibility and empowering kids as they fundraise.
Kayla’s message to her fellow students is to always try your best, always think positive. “I didn’t know when I started, I could do this,” she said. Next year, her brother Kaylum will be in kindergarten and will help with the fundraising, said Kayla’s mother, Anita Riar.
Sasha Sa, community coordinator with the Heart & Stroke Foundation said when individuals like Kayla and her mother embrace the Jump Rope for Heart program, it inspires others as well.
“Working for the Heart & Stroke Foundation, we have to always keep in mind where each dollar comes from — there are stories behind every donation,” Sa said in an email. “Individuals like Kayla motivate us to make each donor dollar go further in combating heart disease and stroke and helping Canadians live longer, healthier lives.”
The money from the Jump Rope for Heart program has raised about $31 million in total, which has supported about a thousand medical researchers. It has also allowed for 8,000 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to be installed in communities across the country.
