RIO GRANDE — February is American Heart Month, and the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College (URG/RGCC) is recognizing this important month in several ways.

Throughout the month, Rio Grande is stressing the importance of heart health, giving away prizes and even holding a few special events.

One highlight of the month will be on Friday, Feb. 17, when all Rio Grande students, faculty and staff, along with all area residents, will be invited to take part in a special photo.

On Friday, Feb. 17, the Health Services Office at Rio Grande is encouraging all area residents to wear a red shirt in honor of American Hearth Month. At 11:30 a.m. on that day, which is also National Women’s Heart Day, everyone on campus who is wearing a red shirt will be invited to take part in the special photo at the Alumni Memorial Bell Tower.

Marlene Childers, R.N., director of Health Services at Rio Grande, is hoping to get a large crowd of people from campus and from the community together for the photo, and she is planning to have them stand in the shape of a heart.

After the photo has been taken, everyone in attendance will be invited to enjoy cake and punch in the hallway near the Health Services Office in the Rhodes Student Center. Any students, faculty, staff members or area residents who were not able to be present for the photo will be able to stop into the Health Services Office until 4 p.m. on that day for cake and punch.

Throughout the month, the Health Services Office is also displaying special items related to heart health. Those who stop in at the Health Services Office will be able to have their blood pressure taken and their Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated. Visitors to the office will also be able to enter a drawing for a door prize, and prizes are being given away at the end of each week throughout February.

The Health Services Office is also inviting all Rio Grande students, faculty and staff, as well as all area residents to wear red on each Friday throughout the month.

The point of the special activities this month on campus and throughout the country is to help people understand how it is to have healthy hearts.

“We’re doing this to help promote awareness,” Childers explained. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America, and is a major health problem for people in southern Ohio and all across the country.

People need to understand how important it is to keep healthy, and especially to keep their hearts healthy. That is one reason why the Health Services Office at Rio Grande is providing the free blood pressure and BMI tests during February.

Many people do not realize what their blood pressure is, and what they should do about it if it is not in a healthy range. Similarly, many people who are overweight do not realize the different health problems that being overweight can cause, and they do not know enough about good nutrition and eating healthy diets.

The Health Services Office at Rio Grande is providing information on these topics and many more during February, in order to help more people in the region be healthy.

The Health Services Office also offers a wide range of free services to Rio Grande students throughout the year. For example, students can stop in at the office if they are sick and need assistance. The office also gives flu shots, provides pregnancy tests, refers students to other medical offices if needed, and can answer a wide range of health-related questions.

For more information on the Health Services Office, on American Heart Month or on the special photo on Friday, Feb. 17, call the Health Services Office at 1-800-282-7201.