By Adam Brazeau
CORNWALL, Ontario – For six months, Lorraine Breau sewed her gratitude for the Heart and Stroke Foundation into every stitch of a hand-embroidered quilt.
Then she gave it away as part of a raffle to raise funds for the volunteer-based health charity’s Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry, Prescott-Russell & Akwesasne (SDG-PR&A) chapter.
The 61-year-old Lorneville Apartments resident had a heart attack at the age of 29. She underwent a triple bypass operation at the Ottawa Heart Institute in 1997, and then again in 2002. Three years ago, the quilter had a stent put in.
“The Heart and Stroke Foundation has done so much for me, I just wanted to give back,” said Breau.
According to 2011 stats, every seven minutes in Canada, someone dies from heart disease or stroke.
With the help of her friends and fellow Lorneville tenants, Sharon Lavoie and Phil Howells, she sold 1,000 raffle tickets for the quilt at $2 apiece, or three for $5, which resulted in over $1,800 for the foundation.
The trio gathered at the foundation’s Second Street office, across from the Cornwall Public Library, to announce Andrea Lazore as the lucky recipient of the heart-themed, queen-sized quilt, valued at $1,000.
Howells and Lavoie are also members of The Lorneville Riders, a seniors group competing in the Heart and Stroke Foundation Big Bike team event on Saturday, Apr. 25, at the Cornwall Legion, and Sunday, Apr. 26 at the RCAFA building.
Teams of 29 pedal through the city on a humongous red bicycle and each commit to raising $50 or more to support heart disease and stroke research.
“We challenge other apartment buildings or any other groups, to form a team and take the ride to help out the foundation – it doesn’t matter what your age is,” said Lavoie.
One Lorneville Rider is 94.
For more information, call the local office at (613) 938-8933 or visit www.heartandstroke.on.ca.
