Market Street and the American Heart Association (AHA) invite the community to promote heart disease education and prevention by attending a family-friendly Hands-Only CPR Awareness Event from 9 am – Noon Saturday, December 3.

The come and go event will take place in Market Street’s Central Park and will include CPR training by the American Heart Association, heart-healthy activities for kids and more heart fun.

“We are thrilled to partner with Market Street The Woodlands on this free, educational opportunity,” said Michelle Mason, Director of Communications for the American Heart Association. “In Montgomery County, the bystander CPR rate, which is the percentage of people who know and are willing to perform CPR in the event that someone is having a cardiac arrest, is only 14.6 percent.

“The American Heart Association’s Hands-Only CPR has shown to double or triple a victim’s chance of survival. The fact of the matter is, the more education in the community we have on Hands-Only CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) awareness is key in saving more lives.”

Long-time AHA volunteer, Amy LeCrone, will bring her efforts to champion CPR and AED awareness through her Helping Hearts Vance LeCrone CPR and AED group, which was created in 2014 after the death of her husband.

Vance LeCrone, a Woodlands Pediatric Orthodontist, lost his life in August 2014 after suffering a cardiac arrest while working out at the gym. While Vance received immediate bystander CPR, he did not receive a shock from an AED until paramedics arrived.

“In December 2014, we hosted Helping Hearts Vance LeCrone, a free CPR and AED training event for local families where we educated over 200 adults in one morning. It was such a huge success, I realized this community will eagerly come out to learn the lifesaving skill if we just put the opportunity in from of them,” said LeCrone. “I am honored to join a partnership with Market Street and the American Heart Association and together bring another family friendly CPR event to the public on a wider scale.”

Additionally, Santa Claus will be making a special appearance to greet young guests from 9 – 10 a.m., and families are encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy to benefit the Moms Helping Moms Toy Drive. Guests will also get to enjoy breakfast and more heart-healthy fun for families, including Jump Rope for Heart, arts and crafts, and Touch a Truck with the local fire department.

The event is free and open to the public. To get involved or to volunteer, contact ngonzalez@trademarkproperty.com, or find out more about the American Heart Association’s CPR efforts, contact michelle.mason@Heart.org.