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RHHS needs community help to win grant
$10k prize would buy AEDs for various school teams
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If everything goes as she hopes, Richmond Hill High School athletic trainer Tammy Collins will win $10,000 next month to buy lifesaving equipment for the school.

But she’s going to need community support now.

Collins entered Pepsi’s Refresh Project in order to buy the school three automated external defibrillators – or AEDs – plus batteries and training, but her chances of winning the grant depend on the number of votes her proposal gets by July 31. If she finishes in the top 15, she expects to win.

It could be an uphill climb. Her project, called “Have a Heart and Save a Life at Richmond Hill Schools,” is currently 62nd in its category.

Still, Collins hopes publicity will help boost the project’s chances of winning. And while RHHS currently has an AED, she sees a need for more of the devices, each of which can cost between $1,000 and $2,500.

“You can never be too prepared,” she said. “That’s the stance we’re trying to take on this.”

Currently, cardiovascular disease is the No. 2 cause of death among kids, according to the group Parent Heart Watch – an organization which tracks such events. It notes on its website that there’s no national registry to help keep better tabs on the number of sudden cardiac arrests in children and young athletes.

To vote, go to www.refresheverything.com/richmond-hill-has-heart. Registration is required. Voters can vote once a day.

Read more in the July 9 edition of the News.

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