Today is National Wear Red Day
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Today is National Wear Red Day, and people are encouraged to wear the color to help raise awareness about heart disease as the leading cause of death for men and women.
On Thursday, members of the Albion Rotary Club wore red. Rotarians are pictured next to their sign by Tillman’s Village Inn. Cindy Perry is the club president. She also is the director of health education, wellness and outreach for Orleans Community Health.
The Orleans Community Health Foundation will be posting photos of workplaces in the county that are dressed in red. To check those photos, click here.
The Courthouse dome also was red on Thursday night in honor of today’s effort. County employees have been encouraged to wear red, and donate $5 to the American Heart Association if they dress in the color. The Chamber of Commerce also is encouraging its members to dress in red that day.
Perry said heart disease is often a “silent killer” without noticeable symptoms. Heart disease is the cause of death for 38 percent of women, she said.
Orleans County has some of the worse health statistics in the state. The annual County Health Rankings report places Orleans 52nd out of 62 counties for overall community health.
Orleans fares particularly bad with a high smoking rate, 29.9 percent of adults compared to 16.2 percent state-wide. There are 63 percent of adults in Orleans who are overweight or obese, compared to 59 percent in the state.
