Teresa Evans To Chair 17th Annual Long Island Go Red For Women Luncheon

On Thursday, February 28, the 17th annual Long Island Go Red for Women Luncheon is expected to bring out over 1,000 American Heart Association supporters to the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. This year’s event is chaired by Teresa Evans, the director at Human Resources Business Partner, National Retail at Freedom Mortgage. The American Heart Association sponsors this annual event, which brings awareness to cardiovascular disease in women.

“I am honored to chair this amazing event, and to help encourage women to make heart healthy changes in their lives” said Teresa Evans. In serving as Chair, Evans commits herself to supporting the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

This is not the first time Evans will chair the event. In 2015, she served as chair for the 14th annual Go Red Luncheon for Long Island. In addition, she will also serve as the “Heart and Stroke Champion” for AHA’s Go Red for Women event and make the AHA a “strategic partner” in encouraging employee health, volunteer work, and charity.

According to AHA, heart disease and stroke are the first and fifth killers, respectively, of Long Island women. Additionally, heart disease kills over 1,000 American women per day.

At the luncheon, the women of SterlingRisk, an insurance broker and risk management firm, will be honored for their commitment to women’s health in the workplace. The SterlingRisk women named as Go Red Honorees include Marci Waterman, Chief Operating Officer; Donna Raab, Chief Talent Officer; Jillian Menna, General Counsel; Joanne Krush, Chief Financial Officer; Erin Sussman, Senior Attorney; Gina Murphy, Personal Lines Manager; Angela DeChiara, Director of Commercial Lines; Maryalice Nazaretian, President of Employee Benefits; and Evelyne Caloras, Executive Assistant.

The firm created its own in-house Wellness Committee to coordinate health and wellness programs for employees. This included breakfasts that allow people to learn about smart food choices, quarterly wellness newsletters, discussions on health, a Weight Watchers at Work program, a Wednesday walking club, a restocking of vending machines with healthy alternatives, and seminars to educate employees on various diseases and health problems.

Prior to the luncheon, there is program registration – which allows one to take part in workshops, networking, and an auction. At 12:20 p.m., the luncheon begins and includes two guest speakers. Gary Foster, Ph.D., the Chief Scientific Officer at Weight Watchers International, Inc., serves as Distinguished Speaker, and Ginger Zimmerman, an artist, writer, and motivational speaker, will be the Heart Survivor Speaker.

Dr. Foster previously founded and directed the Center of Obesity Research and Education. He has served as faculty at Temple University, lecturing on public health and psychology, and was director at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Weight and Eating Disorders program. His clinical research considers prevention, behavioral determinants, and treatments of obesity for both children and adults.

Zimmerman is the recipient of not one, but two heart transplants. The first was in 1998 at 32 years of age, due to a condition, permanent dilated viral cardiomyopathy. Before her transplant, her heart was functioning at 15 percent. Ginger was told she had a life expectancy of five to eight years following the procedure. She lasted more than twice that – seventeen years – before needing (and surviving) a second transplant.

The Long Island luncheon is just one event of the many that will be held nationally and sponsored by Macy’s and CVS Health.

Crest Hollow Country Club is located at 8325 Jericho Turnpike in Woodbury. For more information about the event and the Go Red for Women campaign, please visit longislandgoredluncheon.heart.org and goredforwomen.org/.