Astronaut Roberta Bondar wants you to volunteer during Heart Month

The Heart and Stroke Foundation will begin its annual Hearth Month canvassing campaign in Sudbury and North Bay in February 2016.

Every seven minutes heart disease and stroke takes the life of a Canadian and devastates another family, the foundation says.

More than 100,000 Canadians join the Heart Month canvassing campaign each year.

Last year the foundation raised nearly $10 million across the country during Heart Month, of which $92,343 was from the Greater Sudbury and North Bay.

“Volunteers truly are the lifeblood of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Every step they take brings a survivor closer to home,” said Roberta Bondar, Canada’s first woman astronaut, in a press release.

Bondar is also a neurologist and renowned photographer, and this year she joins the foundation as the honorary chair of Heart Month, lending her time and support to the foundation’s volunteer and fundraising programs.

“This February we’re focusing on helping Canadians recognize the signs of stroke so they can help if they witness someone having a stroke,” Bondar said. “We’re very grateful for the support we had from the Greater Sudbury and North Bay communities last year and hope you will support us again.”

For more information, or to volunteer as a canvasser in either Sudbury or North Bay, visit www.heartandstroke.ca/help or call 705-585-4774.