“CP Has Heart” benefits real hearts

February is Heart Month in Canada, and Canadian Pacific is involved in two charity partnerships to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.

Through the 2017 LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) CP Women’s Open and the CFL (Canadian Football League) regular season, playoffs and Grey Cup, CP’s “Beautiful Hearts” campaign, part of the railroad’s “CP Has Heart” program, will support the refurbishment of facilities that patients use every day at the CHEO and University of Ottawa Heart Institute “and celebrate the resiliency and spirit of the human heart.”

CHEO is the official beneficiary of the 2017 CP Women’s Open at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, Aug. 21-27. The University of Ottawa Heart Institute will benefit from all funds raised through CP’s partnership with the CFL throughout 2017.

“CP is excited to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in the nation’s capital while supporting two world-renowned hospitals by bringing the best LPGA golfers and CFL players together,” said CP President and CEO Keith Creel. “Through CP’s community investment program, CP Has Heart, the Beautiful Hearts campaign will bring crucial support to both CHEO and the Ottawa Heart Institute this year.”

“Each year, CHEO touches the lives of more than 500,000 infants, children and youth from Eastern and Northern Ontario, Western Quebec and Nunavut,” CP said in a statement. “To better care for all of these patients, CHEO will be embarking on a $1.8 million project to upgrade the hospital’s Catheterization Lab and Interventional Suite. A redesigned space, specialized equipment and pediatric-specific training will be critically important elements in the health and wellness of CHEO’s patients.”

“Technological advancements offering the clearest and most concise images for our doctors are a vital element of the Catheterization Lab and Interventional Suite upgrade that will be funded with the help of CP’s ‘Beautiful Hearts’ campaign,” said CHEO Foundation President and CEO Kevin Keohane. “The result will be a technologically advanced suite that will allow doctors and technologists to more accurately diagnose, and more gently treat, vulnerable young patients.”

One such patient is Zander Zatylny. Born with a rare type of congenital heart malformation, Zatylny underwent two open heart surgeries by age one. Now seven, he has had eight stents placed into his right and left pulmonary arteries to improve blood flow. He requires regular monitoring and will need future interventions. He will benefit first-hand from real-time, 3D imaging that will guide his physicians during future procedures.

As children become adults, their care transfers to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Four days after her birth in Vancouver, Olivia Hiddema had her first open-heart surgery. At age two, she and her family moved to Ottawa, where the doctors and nurses at CHEO monitored her regularly as she progressed through childhood. When Olivia turned 18, she graduated from CHEO to the Adult Congenital Heart Clinic at the Institute, where she underwent a second open-heart surgery at age 20.

Hiddema will directly benefit from the Institute’s largest expansion in its 40-year history, which will add 145,000 square feet of state-of-the-art clinical space. This expansion will allow the Institute to continue to serve the cardiac care needs of Canadians, as the referral center for hospitals throughout Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, Nunavut, and for many more patients from coast-to-coast who come to Ottawa for life-saving procedures.

“The next five years will be the most exciting of the Institute’s history,” said University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation President and CEO Jim Orban. “Partnerships like the one with CP Has Heart are vital to the Institute’s evolution and support like this ensures that world-class cardiovascular treatment, programs and patient care are available today, shaping the lives of so many Canadians tomorrow.”

During the week of Feb. 13, as part of the Ottawa Heart Institute’s “February is Heart Month” campaign, CP is matching donations to a maximum of $7,500, turning them into up to $15,000 for the Institute. Donate at FebruaryisHeartMonth.ca. Additionally, for every retweet, Facebook share or “love” reaction of the “Beautiful Hearts” video from the @CFL, the League will donate 50 cents to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Access @CPhasHeart on Facebook and Twitter and at CPHasHeart.ca to see how to further contribute and help both charities in the coming months.

In related news, Brooke Henderson, the three-time LPGA Tour winner and the eighth-ranked player in the world, is joining CP as its newest ambassador for the CP Women’s Open. Henderson, only 19, will join longtime ambassador Lorie Kane in representing CP and the CP Women’s Open over the course of the railway’s partnership with Golf Canada as title sponsor of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.

“It is an honor to welcome Brooke to the CP team,” said Keith Creel (pictured with Henderson). “Brooke is the perfect ambassador for CP as we continue to grow the game of golf, advocate for healthy living through CP Has Heart, and build on the iconic Canadian brand that is CP.”

Henderson, born in Smiths Falls, Ontario, won the 2015 Cambia Portland Classic as a Monday qualifier, becoming the first Canadian to win on tour since CP ambassador Lorie Kane in 2001. After that win, and just prior to the start of the 2015 CP Women’s Open, LPGA commissioner Mike Whan granted Henderson membership on the tour, a unique allowance as nearly all members must be over the age of 18. Since then, Henderson has taken the LPGA by storm, consistently finishing at or near the top of the leaderboard.

“Smiths Falls is a CP town and a few of my family members proudly work at the railway,” Henderson said. “Being able to wear the CP logo is truly special, and I look forward to celebrating many more victories with CP and my rail family, which now includes thousands of CP’s hard working employees.”

Henderson is also a graduate of Golf Canada’s National Amateur Squad and Young Pro Squad supported by CP, which marked the beginning of her relationship with the railway.

With her win at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, Henderson became the first Canadian to capture an LPGA major championship. She also represented Canada at the Rio Olympic Summer Games.

Henderson joins Kane—who blazed the trail for her younger competitors on her way to four LPGA Tour wins, the most by a Canadian—as a CP golf ambassador.

“I am excited to welcome Brooke to the CP family,” said Kane. “I look forward to teaming up with her to continue to grow the game and make significant contributions in the communities that CP has helped to build across our nation, especially as we celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday this year.”

To coincide with Canada 150 celebrations, the 2017 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open will return to the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club from August 21 to 27. Through its CP Has Heart campaign, CP will once again make a significant donation to cardiac care in the host community, with funds benefiting improvements in diagnoses and treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. For tickets, corporate hospitality and volunteer information visit www.cpwomensopen.com or call 1-866-571-5742.