What does Lasting Imprint do with the money it raises throughout the year?

This is an important question that we want to answer so you know that your support of our mission is helping to make a difference here in the Midwest.

If you survey the heart families we serve, many of them have different areas that they are passionate about including awareness, research, hospital support, family activities, and early detection.  The board of directors and volunteers of Lasting Imprint know and understand this, which is why we do our best to give to each of these important areas.

Money raised from our two large fundraisers fund four main objectives.

1. Making an annual donation to CHD research.
2. Providing CHD Family Kits to cardiac patients in four major Children’s Hospitals.
3. Raising awareness in our communities.
4. AED donations to local schools.

Donating to research is very important to us and the families we serve because in most cases we just don’t know what causes congenital heart defects.  It is frustrating to be told “we don’t know why this happened.”  Funding research not only helps to move forward in answering “why” but it helps develop the “how” to better treat CHD patients and increase survival rates.  According to the Children’s Heart Foundation,

Twice as many children die from congenital heart defects in the United States than from all forms of childhood cancer combined yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times greater than funding for congenital heart defects.

Providing CHD Family Kits to cardiac patients is important because this is our first real opportunity to reach families who are often in need of support and encouragement.  Our kits provide items that are helpful during hospital stays such as a water bottle, lotion, chap stick, children’s book, coloring book and crayons, etc.  The kit is designed to provide items and resources both in the hospital setting and once families return home.  It also opens families up to a huge support network of others who have experienced a situation similar to their own by connecting them through our discussion groups, family activities, and social interaction via Facebook.

Raising awareness is an ongoing activity that takes on a variety of forms.  Our two major fundraising events are in fact awareness opportunities.  Unless people know what CHD is, it is hard to move forward in doing and giving more.  Other awareness activities include speaking engagements to nursing classes, college business classes, and community service clubs like Rotary and Kiwanis.  Lasting Imprint often has a booth at different events that are heart or pregnancy focused.  We have partnered with clinics and hospitals to get our brochures to expecting parents who learn of a CHD diagnosis.  We also have established relationships with county employees who work with programs many heart families utilize. We love to take on every opportunity we can to share with others the Lasting Imprint story!

In 2018 we started making AED donations to local schools as well as training the school’s faculty in CPR and proper AED use. It is surprising how many school faculty members are not trained in CPR so we felt these donations and training’s were something we needed to prioritize not only for our heart children, but for all children.

Lasting Imprint continues to grow as more and more families are affected by congenital heart defects.  We have expanded our relationship with the Minnesota Department of Health as we work together to implement pulse oximetry screening in local hospitals.  Pulse ox is a simple test that can be included in your newborn screening and can detect some heart defects.  We also plan to host more trainings throughout the state for sonographers to attend and learn how to diagnose congenital heart defects in utero. Training opportunities that have never been offered in Minnesota before!  Well trained sonographers means more CHDs diagnosed prenatally which increases survival rates tremendously.

As you can see we are a busy bunch tackling a variety of areas.  It is an incredible load for an organization made up solely of volunteers but our passion aided with your help is leaving an imprint that is simply astounding.  Thank you for your generous hearts and gifts in support of these goals.

Sincerely,

Lasting Imprint