Campaign: American Heart Association for "You're the Cure" on the Hill 2008
Winner: American Heart Association
Have a Heart
Heart disease remains the #1 killer of Americans, claiming nearly 900,000 lives each year. Yet despite this grim statistic, federal legislation and funding to support research
and prevention efforts are not a national priority. To address this challenge, the American Heart Association mobilized hundreds of advocates from across the country on Capitol
Hill for "You're the Cure," a lobby day event aimed at generating support for bipartisan federal legislation focused on heart disease prevention.
The Cure-All
The American Heart Association's Congressional Lobby Day "You're the Cure" on the Hill took place on April 28-29, 2008, in Washington, D.C. A crowd of nearly 700 young
advocates, heart and stroke survivors, and doctors and researchers met with lawmakers in nearly 400 meetings to urge members of Congress to step up support for heart disease
prevention programs.
Getting the Message Out
AHA employed a media outreach that included pitching the "You're the Cure" event and issues, as well as highlighting compelling survivor/advocate stories for the national,
regional and Capitol Hill press. Spokespersons, such as heath and nutrition advocate Jared Fogle and AHA president Dr. Daniel Jones, were recruited to help promote the issue.
Mission Accomplished
The event proved to be a successful model for building congressional support of AHA's legislative priorities, while further engaging advocates in the issues. After Lobby Day,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program received a 6.8% funding increase in the House Appropriations Subcommittee bill and a
3.2% increase in the Senate Appropriations Committee bill. Also, AHA garnered many media placements, including WashingtonPost.com, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, The Hill, Roll Call
and Congressional Quarterly.
Honorable Mentions
AAA Mid-Atlantic for Delaware Teen Driving Day--Because car crashes remain the No. 1 killer of teens, AAA Mid-Atlantic, with the support of the Delaware traffic safety
community, developed a unique event in April 2008 that would highlight the importance of the issue while establishing AAA as a key thought leader and resource for teens and
parents. Not only did the event attract over 300 teens and parents, but soon after, Delaware car crashes involving teens dropped 11.5%, as compared to the same period the previous
year.
Canadian Urban Transit Association for Making Transportation in Canada a Priority--Wanting to make transportation more of a central issue in Canada, the CUTA launched a
campaign that involved leveraging contacts with members of Parliament to bring about change. The advocacy efforts paid off tenfold when the federal budget for 2008, which took
into account public transit, was announced only days after the February 2008 lobbying campaign.
jwebbPR for Green America's Schools Campaign--Launched in 2007, the USGBC's National Green Schools Campaign aimed to ensure that every child in America attend a green school
within a generation. As a result of this program, 50 members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined the congressional Green Schools Caucus, and Green Schools advocates are
currently working in more than 100 communities, providing media and advocacy training for local decision makers.
The ONE Campaign for One Campus Challenge--More than 25,000 student activists and 1,400 campus chapters were involved in this effort devoted to pressing for solutions to global
poverty and disease. Working with partner A Squared Group, One Campus Challenge tapped into the passion in the millennial generation to do something close to home that can change
the world.