Women are encouraged to arrive at the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness’s 9th Annual National Wear Red Day Event & Photo Shoot this Saturday dressed in their best red clothing or red work-out gear to join the fight against heart disease.
Mt. Zion Baptist Church in South Madison will be the place to be on Feb. 22, noon-3:30 p.m. Every year, Lisa Peyton-Caire, the founder of the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness, organizes the heart disease prevention and education event to bring black women together in the community for a day of fun, learning, and sisterhood.
“It’s amazing that we are celebrating the 9th annual National Wear Red Day this Saturday. We have been so committed for the last 9 years to educating women around the number-one threat to black women’s health which is heart disease,” Peyton Caire tells Madison365. “It gives me incredible pride knowing that we have consistently been helping to educate and save lives for nine years.”
Peyton Caire says that she can still remember the early beginnings of the event – that very first year.
“We hosted it at the Urban League and there were maybe 12 of us there and now, of course, it’s this big thing where women really come out because it’s a fun event, it’s educational, it’s like a family reunion,” she says. “And you really leave with life-saving information that you can apply to your everyday life about being mindful and really conscientious about protecting your heart health.
“You know my story about how heart disease has wreaked so much havoc on the women in my family,” Peyton Caire continues. “And the men, too. We talked about women, but this is an African-American health issue that affects black men and women at increasingly younger ages.”
The event is a big day to talk about heart disease, but Peyton Caire wants to keep talking about it all year long.
“It’s important that we keep these health issues on our mind throughout the year through all of the wellness programs, classes, and nutrition education, and the one-on-one coaching we do with women on a daily basis,” Peyton Caire says. “Education is crucial because it can save lives and it does save lives.”
Guest speakers will be talking about some of this life-saving information at the 9th Annual National Wear Red Day Event & Photo Shoot. They will include Dr. Jacqeuline O’Peebles, Kartrice McNeal, Caroline Carter and Shannon Johnson who will be addressing the impact of heart disease on all women, especially young women who may not see themselves as being at risk, but who are increasingly impacted. The event will be, like always, an intergenerational event.
“That is often brought up by other people in describing why they love this event and every event that we host and everything that we do. Even if you were to come to our new Black Women’s Wellness Center, that is what you would see … women from 13 to 90 participating in everything that we do,” Peyton Caire says. “And that’s really the strength of our work and something that we are very proud of.
“When one woman is impacted and her health is changed, it also can change the health of her daughter, her mother, her sister, her aunt,” she adds. “It causes ripples that flow through an entire family system and all of those women become involved in the process of improving their health together no matter what stage of life they are in. And that is so powerful.”
At Saturday’s event, there will be vendors with life-enhancing products and refreshments will be served. Peyton-Caire encourages women to arrive by noon to be included in special group and individual photos to be used in future campaigns to educate and inform local women about heart disease prevention.
“We will have prizes, too. Vanessa McDowell – a.k.a. DJ Ace – will be providing the music for the event,” Peyton Caire says.
Those who missed out on registration can show up at the door. Just make sure that you are wearing red.
“This is just a fun, great event. It’s a celebration of sisterhood. But we encourage women to keep up with their heart health and their fitness well beyond Saturday and we hope they will go to our website to check out everything we have to offer,” Peyton Caire says.
Register for the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness’ 9th Annual National Wear Red Day Event & Photo Shoot here. The event is free. For more information, call (608) 709-8840 or e-mail [email protected].
