Life is colorful when sharing your passion for a cause | Guest Column

Oct. 3, 2009 was the day my life changed. On that day, my heart stopped. I suffered cardiac arrest at age 38. Before this date, I did not know that one out of three women will die of heart disease; more than all cancers combined. In the fall of 2012, I embarked on a new career working with schools in Western Washington promoting the Jump Rope for Heart Program in elementary schools. My personal goal was to reach other moms with the American Heart Association (AHA) mission.

May 20, 2016 4:30 pm
Dawn McCutcheon
Dawn McCutcheon

Oct. 3, 2009 was the day my life changed. On that day, my heart stopped. I suffered cardiac arrest at age 38. Before this date, I did not know that one out of three women will die of heart disease; more than all cancers combined. In the fall of 2012, I embarked on a new career working with schools in Western Washington promoting the Jump Rope for Heart Program in elementary schools. My personal goal was to reach other moms with the American Heart Association (AHA) mission.

I really enjoy working with the elementary schools, but as a mother of teenagers I wanted to engage that age group in the cause. I began working with high schools to “Go Red” at a basketball game to spread awareness. When I met with the leadership students at Redmond High School, they liked the idea but one student raised his hand and said, “We want to host a Color Run for Heart instead.” My response was “what is a color run?”

I worked with a committee of students to start planning this event. I quickly realized that this could be a great way to engage the entire community. We were lucky that the staff and ownership of Redmond Town Center saw our vision and offered to host the event on their property. An idea that started with students wanting to throw colorful powder at each other has now morphed into an annual event that spreads awareness, educates and raises funds for AHA.

The Redmond Color Run for Heart has grown in three short years. This past Saturday, we had more than 600 runners and walkers participate in this event. We raised more than $17,000 for this crucial cause. This event gave me the opportunity to mentor three students, Erik Frederiksen, Charlie Pangborn and Evan O’Neill.

This event has been the highlight of my new career. Getting to work with teenagers and specifically these three students from sophomores to seniors all attending top colleges in the fall has given me hope that we can make a difference in the health of our community. I provided these students with business and leadership skill training. But what they gave back to me was so much more. They helped me see how colorful life can be when you share your passion for a cause with your community.

Dawn McCutcheon is a Sammamish resident and her children attend Eastlake High and Inglewood Middle School.