St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Denver, CO

The St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) church and gymnasium are located in a separate building just west of the main SVdP School. Throughout the year, around 22,000 people participate in gymnasium classes alone, with another 15,000 participating in after school activities and a further 550 through men's basketball games. Additionally, the SVdP Parish has 1,800 people in their registered parishioner families, with approximately 1,600 visiting the weekend church masses.

SVdP explain their interest in receiving an AED as follows: "SVdP Catholic Church is interested in implementing an AED device and program because we know that having such a life-saving device is essential. Every year we call 911 two to three times for parishioners or visitors who collapse. Thankfully, we haven't had anyone with a cardiac arrest, but as our population is growing with the numbers of families as well as the number of older parishioners, we want to provide the safest environment possible.

Our parish has activities 7 days a week; whether it is prayer groups, our Wellness Clinic, Brownies/Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts, religious classes such as Children's Catechism & Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA)."

Kick Start My Heart received the $750 "Pay It Forward" donation from St. Vincent de Paul Parish in July 2009 and and we implemented an AED in this facility in April 2010. The placement was made possible through a generous donation of the AED from local company, Gilead.

Kick Start My Heart purchased the necessary accessories to complete the standard AED placement package. Thank you Gilead for the AED which is one of three Philips AEDs donated by the company! Please check out the the Latest News section of the website for more information on this donation!

http://svdponline.net/