Putting their heart into it

• Conor Allen

Conor Allen, the honoree in this year’s Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Walk, led the event, which began at Alexandria City Park. (Contributed photo)

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More than 350 people braved a chilly, windy morning on September 8 to help those with heart problems.

The 3rd annual Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Walk took place at City Park in Alexandria.

The two-mile walk raised more than $19,000 for CHD education and support.

Organized by Lasting Imprint, this year’s walk recognized 15-year-old Conor Allen of Alexandria. He was born with multiple congenital heart defects and spent his first year of life at Children’s Hospital. Conor has had 13 surgeries, seven of them were open heart.

The event included music, food, face painting, a balloon artist, bounce house, fire truck, tinsel hair decorating and more. Prizes were awarded to the top fundraisers.

Organizers thanked all of the companies that made the event possible, either through donations or participating that day. They also thanked all the volunteers who worked so hard to make the walk a success, and the individuals who participated that morning and/or have donated.

Lasting Imprint is a non-profit corporation established by individuals committed to fighting congenital heart defects. For more information, visit the website www.lastingimprint.org or contact Lindsey Buttweiler at Lindsey.buttweiler@lastingimprint.org or (320) 491-7391.

Al Edenloff

Al Edenloff was born in Alexandria and later moved to Parkers Prairie where he graduated in 1979. While in high school, he wrote sports stories for the Parkers Prairie Independent. Al graduated from Moorhead State University with a degree in mass communication and started at the Echo Press as a summer intern in 1983. He worked as a reporter until 1990 when he was named editor. He's earned several writing and reporting awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA) and the National Newspaper Association. He was presented with the Minnesota News Council's Journalism Accountability Award and is a three-time winner of the MNA's Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award. In his spare time, Al enjoys golfing, fishing, biking, watching sports, cooking and reading mystery novels.

Tags: local news, news, fundraiser, chd, heart, disease