Rotary Sweetheart Raffle to Support HEART SCAN Program

Tickets are on sale now for Effingham Sunrise Rotary’s Sweetheart Raffle with eight prize packages totaling over $3,360. Proceeds from the raffle provide funds for the club’s community service projects, including the new Effingham HEART SCAN Program for high school athletes, sponsored by the Andrew Gobczynski Big Heart Foundation, in collaboration with HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital.

The Heart Scan Program’s purpose is to help prevent premature deaths of seemingly healthy young athletes by uncovering dangerous electrical abnormalities of the heart, such as cardiomyopathy, an abnormality which can cause sudden death of athletes in the heat of competition. For several years, Rotary clubs in the area have been raising funds to provide free heart screenings, but area students had to travel other communities for the scan.

The first Big Heart Foundation screening in Effingham is scheduled for Saturday, March 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Prairie Heart Institute of Illinois in Effingham. The screening is offered to high school-aged sophomores and/or junior or senior athletes who have not already participated athletes. This is a free screening program offered twice a year, both in the spring and fall. Registration packets are available from each school’s athletic director or high school office.

Raffle tickets can be purchased from any Effingham Sunrise Rotarian, from the Effingham County Community Foundation or the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce. Tickets are $10 each or three tickets for $20. The drawing will be held on Tuesday, February 28, at 4:20 pm live on WXEF/WKJT Radio.

For more information on the Effingham Sunrise Rotary Sweetheart Raffle, please contact Joedy Hightower at 217-342-4988. For more information on the Big Heart Foundation Heart Scan Program, please contact Stephanie Uebinger at 217-240-0877.