On behalf of the Heart Foundation, I'd like to offer my warm thanks to everyone who kindly gave up their time to volunteer for us during Heart Week, our annual appeal.

The Heart Foundation is a charity and we rely heavily on everyday Kiwis to help us continue our fight against heart disease.

We are fortunate that so many people in the Western Bay of Plenty felt moved to support us by standing out in public with a bucket in hand, collecting donations last week. You helped make Heart Week a huge success.

I also want to thank each person who dug deep and made a donation during Heart Week.
Your contribution means we can keep fighting heart disease in this country.

I can assure you that your donation will remain in this region.

Lastly, we are extremely grateful to all of the business owners who allowed us to collect donations outside their premises.

Thanks again to everyone for getting behind our cause during Heart Week. Heart disease is still this country's biggest killer but, together, we can change that.

If you haven't been able to make a donation yet, it's not too late. Call us on 0800 830 100 or see www.heartfoundation.org.nz/donate

Sandy Ritchie, Heart Health advocate