The second annual Take This Dress to Heart Fashion Show, Dress Sale and Spring Bazaar brought together students, parents and the community for a good cause.
The Heart of Edmonds School District and Community Heart Safe Project/Nick of Time Foundation event raised funds to help place AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in all 34 Edmonds School District schools.
The event was held is memory of Matthew Truax, a 16-year-old Meadowdale High School student who died of sudden cardiac arrest on Sept. 13, 2013. Had Truax lived, he would have been graduating from high school this year along with many of his friends who were at Sunday’s event.
Melinda Truax, Matthew’s mother, noted the Nick of Time Foundation will be having a heart screening on June 3 at Mountlake Terrace High School. She encouraged parents and students to sign up for the screening.
“Sudden Cardiac Arrest is the number one cause of death in the U.S., claiming hundreds of thousands of lives each year,” Truax said. “But what parents don’t know is that SCA is the number two cause of death among youth under 25 and the number one killer of student athletes.”
Six months after Matthew’s death, the Nick of Time Foundation provided heart screenings for 555 students at Meadowdale High School and found eight students with heart conditions that needed follow-up care.
“Because there are often no warning signs the first symptom could be death,” Truax said. “Studies show that many people who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest were reported by their parents to have had at least one cardiovascular symptom before the event. They just didn’t recognize it as life threatening.”
The 500-plus dresses on sale after the fashion show were all donated and priced from $15-$50. The Meadowdale Dance Team and MFJ Grand, the Edmonds School District Talent Show Award Winners, also performed at the event. Event sponsors included Gene Juarez Academy, The Tux Shop and Fast Signs of Lynnwood.
For more information on the Heart of Edmonds or to make a donation see: www.heartofedmondssd.org.
— By David Pan
I look at these beautiful young students and am reminded of Lynnwood artist Cody French’s sage advice, “Your [fashion sense] tells people who You are — Make it Amazing!”
They ARE amazing! Nice photo collection.