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California Philharmonic Shows Support for Ava’s Heart on World Heart Day
Arcadia Weekly Sep 30, 2015
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Ava between Dr. Deng and Dr. Alejos. – Courtesy Photo
Esteemed Organization Signs on as Sponsor of the Ava’s Heart Heroes Ball
It has long been recognized that music is good for your health – and heart!
And, continuing its tradition of giving back to the community, California Philharmonic has entered into a new partnership with Ava’s Heart Foundation, the only 501(c)3 in the United States that provides extensive support for transplant patients and their families pre-and-post lifesaving organ transplants.
Newly-appointed Executive Director of California Philharmonic, Brandon Dobbins made the announcement yesterday during the Ava’s Heart To Heart Forum which hosted members of the transplant community including transplant patients and their families, advocates and leading heart/ heart transplant doctors from UCLA to share insight, advice, first hand experiences, information about life-prolonging techniques and devices that can now help bridge a patient from waiting to transplant such as The Artificial Heart, new advances in the world of transplant and more.
“California Philharmonic is proud to partner with Ava’s Heart to do everything we can to bring the healing power of live music to patients and their families dealing with these sometimes months long recovery processes,” said Dobbins who expressed interest in collaborating with Ava’s Heart to provide concert tickets to people it helps among other ideas. “I cannot think of a more noble and more deserving organization for us to partner with.”
Some of the future concert-goers that also attended the forum include Ava Kaufman, Founder of Ava’s Heart, a transplant recipient herself who now has the heart of a 17-year-old boy as well as participants Ron Yarborough, who is being kept alive with an artificial heart while he waits for his new heart, and 11-year-old Jessica Olstrand and her mother Stephanie who shared their story of how her daughter has already had two heart transplants and how Ava’s Heart helped the family with a grant for post-transplant housing near UCLA.
Also on hand were Dr. Juan Carlos Alejos, Pediatric Cardiology/Heart Transplant, Director of The Pediatric Heart and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA and Dr. Mario Deng, Medical Director at UCLA, Adult Mechanical Circulatory Support and Heart Transplant Program.
“Ava’s Heart’s initiative is along same line as UCLA’s in treating the whole person,” said Dr. Deng.
California Philharmonic has also signed on as a sponsor of the first annual Ava’s Heart Heroes Ball which will honor organizations and people that have significantly helped the one-of-a-kind non-profit thus far such as Change a Life Foundation and renowned doctors from UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA and Cedars Sinai Hospital. People are encouraged to purchase tickets or tables for the fundraising gala which is taking place on Feb. 20, 2015, in the grand ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. www.avasheart.org.
