The holidays are more than just decorations and shopping but also a time to keep health in mind.
TRAVERSE CITY -- The annual Zonta Festival of Trees is always a perfect way to ring in the start to the holiday season. It's not only Zonta's largest fundraiser, but this year organizers were hoping to also raise a special awareness.
"The mission of Zonta is to advance the status of women and so we're real committed to all areas of women's lives including obviously their health," says Zonta chapter president, Cheryl Follette.
Although Zonta's main focus is improving the legal, political and professional status of women in the community, Follette says the club is also placing a major emphasis on Munson Medical Center's Heart to Heart program.
"Our next project over the next two years is $10 thousand for the Heart to Heart program. There are members of our club who have had heart issues and seeing that it's the number one killer of women obviously it's an important issue for us to address," says Follette.
This is the first time Zonta is focusing on the Heart to Heart program in an effort to raise money for women's heart disease screenings and also heart rehab programs.
"So many of us will have that issue in our own lives either personally or family members....we're about empowering women and this is a way through screenings and exercise and ways to be healthy," says Follette.
Besides the Zonta Festival of Trees last month, proceeds from upcoming events like The Zonta Father-Daughter Dance in the spring and the Zonta Golf Outing in June will also go towards the Munson Heart to Heart program.
For more information on heart disease awareness CLICK HERE.
