August 3, 2013
By Lisa Reinhardt, Indian Valley Family YMCA Eastern Connecticut
Group shot of the defibrillator donation to the Indian Valley Family YMCA in Ellington, CT.
All campers at the remote Camp Yankee Trails in Tolland will now have a life-saving AED unit on site thanks to the Michael Vincent Sage Dragonheart Foundation. On July 23, the foundation’s Founder, Lauren Rossi, presented a new AED unit (Automated External Defibrillators) to the Indian Valley Family YMCA District Executive Director, John L. Reilly. “While we hope there’s never a need to use this device, it is reassuring to know there is AED accessible to use,” said John Reilly.
The Indian Valley Family YMCA, a 501c3 nonprofit, serves children, adults and families in the towns of East Windsow, Ellington, Enfield, Rockville, Somers, South Windsor, Tolland, Willington, and Vernon. In addition to the two child care centers, 4 After School sites, 2 Camps; the Y has a full membership facility in Ellington.
The AED will be used at the Y’s Camp Yankee Trails in Tolland, and at the Y’s Vernon Child Care center during non-summer months. A presentation was done with the Camp Indian Valley campers. They presented Lauren Rossi a large “Thank You” card and had many questions and comments about the new unit. Rossi said, “It is rewarding and exciting to see the dream of our mission become reality. To have this happen in a setting of young, curious minds…well, it just doesn’t get any better than this.”
The Michael Vincent Sage Dragonheart Foundation, Inc. was established in memory of Michael Vincent Sage, who died on February 5, 2010 at the age of 29 from a sudden cardiac arrest. The mission of the Michael Vincent Sage Dragonheart Foundation is to raise awareness and support research into the early diagnosis and prevention of sudden cardiac arrest, including bystander awareness education, CPR training, and availability of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in schools, athletic facilities, and other public forums. If you know of an organization in need of an AED, please spread the word about the Michael Vincent Sage Dragonheart Foundation and help save a life! Visit the Foundation’s website: https://defibandlive.org/
The YMCA is the largest provider of Child Care in the United States. YMCA programs put the values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility into practice to build healthy spirit, mind and body for all participants.
