October Meeting

Hello Heart Families,
This month the Fresno and Visalia MLH groups will meet together!
We are planning on having a special day for all of you. Hope you can join us for food, fun and laughter. As a special treat, KICS Club from Rio Vista Middle School will be on hand to watch, play games and make wonderful crafts with the children. Also, Julie Jobinger Photography will be on hand to take pictures of our families. We will be able to use these photographs for promotional purposes and you will have a chance to take family pictures for those holiday memories. There have been a few changes to the MLH family, so come and join us to find out what they are. Costumes are not required but if you would like, please feel free to wear them. Hope to see you there!
When: Saturday October 24th
Time: 12:30 pm
Place: Faith Community Church of the Nazarene 430 Peach Ave. Clovis CA

Hello Heart Friends!
Check out the news today on Channel 47 at 6:30 am, 12pm, 5pm and 11pm
Mended Little Hearts will be featured in a story!
Many thanks to Jenny Toste for taking on this project and helping to raise awareness about CHD and the support that Mended Little Hearts provides.

http://www.cbs47.tv/content/special_features/story/Nationwide-Support-Group-Started-in-Fresno/pfbkUFC9RkGL-6TuFVyr8g.cspx

Our annual Spring picnic is coming up next month. Check back in the next few days to find out the details!

CHD Day Party

We had a great CHD (congenital heart defect) Awareness Day Party on February 14, 2009! There were fun games, prizes, crafts, cookie decorating and of course good company. Thanks to all who came and helped out. All of the parents joined in and helped with games and everyone had a great time with the family competitions (pie eating and balloon relay). MLH of Fresno has great families and I'm glad that we can get together and celebrate our brave heroes!

Our Awesome Kids!

At our January meeting we recieved some great iformation from registered dietician, Melissa Cornelius. Everyone was able to ask questions and go home with a great hand-out of information. After the parents learned about nutrition and the kids played games, ate snacks and did crafts with the Rio Vista KICS club we all came together to put together some special packages.

The kids all assembled gift baskets to give out to other heart kids on Valentine's Day. We wanted to honor all of the CHD kids who will be at CHCC on CHD Awareness Day A.K.A. Valentine's Day. All of the kids at the meeting made a few gift baskets. Many of the kids even included hand made Valentine's! It was heart warming to see how excited all of the kids were to help out other children. I am so proud of all of the kids in our group (both heart kids and siblings)!!!!

January 2009 Meeting

Hello Heart Friends!

Happy New Year!

As we welcome in 2009 we've decided to help you out with one of the most popular New Years resolutions....healthy eating!We wil have the opportunity to hear from nutritionist, Melissa Cornelius. Not only is Melissa a nutritionist who has worked at CHCC, but she is also a heart mom! So, she knows all about the nutrition concerns of a heart parent. Come ready to ask any nutrition questions you may have and the kiddos will have a chance to make a hands on, fun and healthy snack!

When: Saturday January 17, 2009

Where: Faith Community Church of the Nazarene 430 Peach Ave. Clovis, CA

For more information: Carlie (559) 734-7876

Calling all bilingual parents!Our goal is to reach all heart families. Unfortunately we are unable to do that at this time because of language barriers. If you fluently speak another language (especially Spanish) please let us know if you would be interested in reaching out to families who we currently are not able to give support to because of language barriers. If you'd like to help out please contact: Carlie: (559) 734-7876If your child is going in to have surgery, please let us know! We would love to send them a care package. We also have trained visitors who are willing and ready to visit.

Photo Shoot!

Hello Heart Friends!

We are getting together for a professional photo shoot! Alyssa Smith of A & S Photo Design http://www.aandsphotodesign.com/ has offered to take our group photos. She will be taking pictures of the heart kids so that we can use them for fliers, posters, thank you notes, website, etc. She has also offered to waive her $250 sitting fee for any families that want to take family portraits at the same time. If you choose to have your family portrait taken you will be given a link to a website where the pictures will be uploaded. You can then order photos of your child/family (prices start at $6 for a 4x6) from her website.Please show up on time and have all CHD'ers wear red (they can wear a plain red shirt / dress or their MLH shirt) and blue jeans.This is a great opportunity to take your family photos for your holiday cards!

There is an entrance fee to get into Woodward park:$3 for Fresno residents (must show drivers license)$5 for non-fresno residents

We will have a sign posted as to where we are or you can call Lisa or Carlie that afternoon to find out the actual location (the photographer will need to see which spot has the best background and lighting).We hope to see you there!

Please let us know if you think you will be able to make it!

September Meeting

September Meeting:
When: Saturday September 6, 2008
Time: 2 pm - 4 pm
Place: Faith Community Church of the Nazarene 430 Peach Ave. Clovis CA
Topic: Debbie Truhett from the American Heart Association will join us to let us know what the American Heart Association is doing on a local and national level to help CHD. We will also be forming our heart walk team. The heart walk is coming up in October and we hope to have a great turn out!**As always children are welcome at all meetings and childcare will be available.