American Heart Association

So you didn't eat your vegetables yesterday and you really overdid it with the double-chocolate cake. Don't torture yourself with guilt. Just try to do better in the next few days. That recommendation comes from the American Heart Assn., which has issued reduced-guilt guidelines aimed at getting people to eat right over several days or a week, instead of obsessing over every day or every meal.

Students at Calvert Street Elementary School jumped rope Tuesday to raise money for the American Heart Assn. Sponsors had pledged a set amount of money for each time the students' feet left the ground. Kimberly Amaya, 11, a fifth-grader at the school, said she was happy to help the cause. The issue hits home, she said, because a family member has heart trouble. "This is sending money to people who need it," she said.

They'll be bowling for dollars--charitable dollars--Sunday at the Brunswick Matador Bowl in Northridge for the fourth annual American Heart Assn. Bowlathon. Dubbed "Bowl From the Heart," the three-hour event is an effort to raise research and community education funds to combat heart disease--the leading killer across race, age and gender lines.

The Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw area will host its first American Heart Walk today, 1 with more than 300 walkers expected to participate. "It's to raise money for the American Heart Association," said Malaika Tawasufi, regional manager of the heart association, "but it's also to project a positive image of exercise" in the predominantly African American community.

With the unshakable concentration typical of Olympic athletes, Chucky Huenergardt, 7, jumped rope along with his classmates Wednesday at a jump-a-thon to raise money for the American Heart Assn. "You can't stop," Chucky said to himself, getting a little tangled up in his rope, but persisting. "I think I can make it. Come on, come on," he cheered himself on.

Chanting "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground," Raymond Paik took turns jumping rope at Laguna Road Elementary School last week as part of the American Heart Assn.'s "Jump Rope for Heart" campaign. "Jumping makes you healthy," the 6-year-old said, after completing a few minutes of jumping tricks. "It's good for your heart."

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Valerie Brisco-Hooks will lead more than 3,000 runners and walkers through the streets of Woodland Hills on Sunday in the American Heart Assn.'s 10th annual Heart Run and Walk. The event will raise money to help fight cardiovascular ailments such as congenital heart defects, high blood pressure and strokes, which affect more than 70 million Americans. According to American Heart Assn. officials, about $117.4 billion was spent to treat those illnesses in 1993.

More than 700 students at La Paz Intermediate School will be putting their legs, lungs, arms and stomach muscles through their paces this week as they prepare for a national fitness test and raise money for the American Heart Assn. On Tuesday, students will be doing sit-ups and pull-ups at the school on Pradera Drive, and on Thursday they will run a mile. Students have been taking pledges, and the more exercises they do and the faster they run, the more money they will raise.

About 600 students at St. Pius V Catholic School jumped rope Thursday morning to raise money for the American Heart Assn. Up to eight children jumped at a time, with the jump-rope often getting the best of them. Some, however, successfully jumped "double Dutch," using two ropes. "It's a fun activity and it gives them an awareness of the heart association and what they do for people," said sixth-grade teacher John Jason, who organized the jump-rope-a-thon.

To begin its second year of operation, the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw branch of the American Heart Assn. has scheduled a volunteer leadership conference Thursday. The conference will introduce new leadership and board members and familiarize potential volunteers with the association and its services. The branch opened in October as part of the association's new emphasis on small, community-based branches rather than regions.