At Sauers Cares, we are a nonprofit devoted to local causes and needs – as determined by its surrounding community.
Several months ago – we put out a call on social media for nominations of existing nonprofits where our community would like to see some support. In many cases, these are nonprofits where a member of the community had a personal connection to. Once the initial round of nominations came in, the board took a vote on the top 5 we would see ourselves getting involved in, and we started making calls to build those connections.
On Wednesday May 20th, we invited Darren Sudman, Co-Founder of Simon’s Heart to join us during our virtual board meeting to learn more about the organization and what they’re up to.
Some of the key takeaways that we learned about Simon’s Heart include:
1. Simon’s Heart has been around for 15 years and is inspired by Simon Sudman – the second child of Darren and Phyllis Sudman, who passed away due to sudden cardiac arrest. This was not the more well-known SIDS diagnosis. It was later found out that Long QT Syndrome, an arrhythmia, was linked to Simon’s death at just over 3 months old.
2. Simon’s Heart provides heart screenings for youth and has built a digital registry that takes all personal information out of the process and sends the information to researchers.
3. Simon’s Heart has been the driving force behind passing laws for student athletes. In PA and 14 other states, they are the team behind requiring CPR Training and AED Machines at places where kids play.
4. Simon’s Heart works towards taking a grim subject, and making it a fun and accessible topic to talk and learn about. The CPR Jukebox is an idea of a creative solution they have created. This CPR Jukebox travels to fairs and sporting events and trains booth visitors how to perform CPR using a song and a ball!
Please visit www.simonsheart.org for detailed information about this great organization and stay tuned with Sauers Cares to learn more about Simon’s Heart and our partnership!