Strive for Life Foundation: Helping Save Young Lives

Each year, 40,000 children are born with a heart defect and often show no warning signs until it’s too late. 

It is estimated that each year in the U.S., more than 9,500 children and teenagers will suffer sudden cardiac arrest, and undetected heart conditions claim the lives of more that 7,000 young people.  

Since 2013, the Strive for Life Foundation has worked to support activities that protect children and young adults from heart conditions that can impact their overall health, athletic performance or, in some cases, cause sudden death. 

One of the primary ways Strive does this is through its partnership with My-HeartCheck, a local company that provides low-cost mobile heart screenings for youth ages 8 to 18. The screenings include an echocardiogram and EKG and can help identify undiagnosed heart abnormalities that are rarely detected in regular physicals and place youth at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. After each screening event, pediatric cardiologists review the results and a written report is sent to each family and the child’s primary care physician. If an abnormality is detected, My-HeartCheck staff walk parents through the test findings and connect them to local healthcare services to ensure their child’s condition is correctly addressed. In order to extend participation to all families, Strive provides financial assistance that helps offset the cost of testing. Normally, these potentially lifesaving tests would range from $800 to $2,000 at a hospital or your doctor’s office. Through special arrangements with My-HeartCheck, these potentially life-saving tests are offered at a reduced price of only $149.  In addition, Strive provides need-based financial aid that can reduce the price to as little as $19.  The idea is that no family should have to miss this important opportunity because of the cost. 

Over the past few years, Strive has also worked with My-HeartCheck to reach communities where paying any amount for a screening would be an insurmountable burden for parents. For these events, Strive fully funds the cost of screenings. Strive often works with schools and non-profits in these communities to help organize the screening events, meeting children and their families where they are and removing transportation barriers that may have previously prevented them from getting tested.  

In 2019, 1,554 youth were screened at Strive-subsidized or sponsored events; 113 conditions were detected and 12 were potentially life threatening.

Strive also furthers its mission in other ways. Strive recently donated an automated external defibrillator, or AED, device to a local non-profit that hosts canoe and camping activities for scout troops and youth groups. This lightweight, portable device can be used to help resuscitate people who have suffered certain types of sudden cardiac arrests by jolting their heart back to a regular rhythm.

For more information about heart screening events in your area or to learn more about the Strive for Life Foundation and how you can get involved, visit striveforlife.org.