PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A two-day fundraiser for the American Heart Association is giving donors a chance to swing for the fences at Citizens Bank Park.
The event, which runs through Tuesday, is dubbed the Hard Hats for Heart Home Run Derby to accentuate the fact that construction workers are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, said AHA-Philadelphia Vice President Dave Morris.
“Some of our studies have shown that employees in the construction industry suffer from cardiovascular diseases and stroke as much as three times as high as folks in other industries,” Morris said. “It could be the lifestyle, the stress — there’s a lot of traditional tobacco usage, unhealthy eating, sedentary lifestyles.”
According to AHA, 1 in 25 construction workers have been diagnosed with heart disease and 2,300 Americans die from it every day.
For $5,000, teams of four get to stand in the same batter's box as Bryce Harper or Trea Turner and take 20 swings each.
“And they get a private tour to go down to the batting cages and the pitching cages and the bullpen,” Morris said.
The event raises $350,000 toward heart disease research, education and CPR training.
“It also goes directly back into the greater Philadelphia community to help us do things like train people in hands-only CPR, get their blood pressure checked, to know the fast warning signs of stroke,” Morris said.