Team Alvimedica Gives Back to Heart Health Charities

Associação Coragem (Courage Association) is a charity based at Hospital de Santa Cruz in Lisbon, aided by Team Alvimedica © Team Alvimedica

The 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race has finished, but part of the Team Alvimedica legacy will be the more than $100,000 raised for children's heart health and youth sailing in stopover ports around the world.

The global children's heart health initiative raised more than $87,000 for 11 heart charities in nine stopover ports by auctioning off once-in-a-lifetime sailing experiences with the team. Additionally, the team raised another $14,500 from auctioning sailing experiences and contributing the proceeds from a special edition Lemon & Line team bracelet to Sail Newport, the not-for-profit community sailing organization in their homeport of Newport, RI, USA.

Since the start of the race last October in Alicante, Spain, an online auction on the team's website allowed sailing fans to bid on pro-am racing spots and the coveted "Jump Seat" to support the World Heart Health Charity Tour.

In addition to raising the funds for the designated charities, team leaders skipper Charlie Enright, 30, of Bristol, RI, and watch captain Mark Towill, 26, of Kanehoe, HI, and other race crew members visited with children recovering from heart disease at most of the race stopovers as seen in this video.

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect and affects at least 1 in every 100 children with between 20-40 percent of children affected needing surgery. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of American women and men.

"Team Alvimedica gave us an incredible opportunity to touch a number of local communities and it's great that we could give back most everywhere we went," Enright said. "The World Heart Health Charity Tour initiative gave us a more global perspective to appreciate what else is going on in the world as we sailed around it. The Volvo Ocean Race provides an amazing opportunity to race globally yet give back locally – all around the world."

Heart health charities that Team Alvimedica supported:

Menudos Corazones Foundation, Spain's national children's heart charity, was the first recipient at the race in Alicante, Spain. The non-profit-making organization's mission is to carry out programs and activities necessary for improving the quality of life of children and young people with congenital heart defects and their families.

Paediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa, the NGO committed to improving quality of care for children with congenital and acquired heart diseases.

Zayed Giving Initiative, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Auction proceeds were earmarked to support the Mobile Heart Clinic Program, touring the seven Emirates with volunteer healthcare professionals to provide heart health awareness, prevention and screening.

Chinese Agape Foundation: A United States 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a mission to provide physical care and education for the millions of underprivileged children of China, including surgeries, in either China or the USA, for poor children with congenital heart diseases.

Heart Kids and Starship Foundation, New Zealand. Heart Kids NZ is the only charity in New Zealand supporting children born with congenital heart defects (CHD) throughout their entire lives. Heart Kids receives no government funding and relies on support from generous partners and communities to provide support services for children and families affected by CHD across New Zealand. Starship Foundation is New Zealand's national children's hospital. There are over 110,000 patient visits to Starship Children's Health every year by children from all over New Zealand. Starship is a social-profit organization that raises funds so Starship Children's Health can better care for its young patients.

AVISA, Itajai, Brazil: AVISA is a healthy childhood volunteering association working closely with Hospital Infantil Pequeno Anjo of Itajai, Brazil. The funds raised through the auction will be earmarked for a children's heart health initiative providing testing for children in remote areas of Brazil to identify heart defects. These children then receive consultation remotely from pediatric cardiologists allowing the patient to receive treatment locally without having to relocate their families. Hospital Pequeno Anjo is supported by Universidade do Vale do Itajai Foundation.

Lifespan of Providence, Rhode Island: A five-partner, not-for-profit health system, it includes three teaching hospitals: The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children's Hospital; The Miriam Hospital; and Bradley Hospital. It also includes Newport Hospital and Gateway Healthcare. All Lifespan-affiliated partners are charitable organizations that depend on support from the community to provide programs and services. Additionally, the team supported the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Heart Association.

Associação Coragem (Courage Association) is a charity based at Hospital de Santa Cruz, Lisbon, Portugal, which is closely linked with the Department of Pediatric Cardiology. Its main goals are to promote awareness of cardiac diseases in childhood; support of families and pediatric patients with heart disease; cooperation with national and international organizations for the support of children with heart disease.

Mécénat-cardiaque.org, Lorient, France: The French organization supports children suffering from heart diseases who can't be operated in their country. Through a solidarity chain of host families, volunteers and cardiology professionals, this organization has already saved 2,500 children.

Sail Newport, Inc., Newport, RI, USA: Founded in 1983, is a non-profit 501 (C) (3) organization. Sail Newport is home to New England's largest public sailing center and is considered Rhode Island's premier public sailing site. The Dr. Robin Wallace Youth Sailing Center is the headquarters of Sail Newport's Youth Sailing Program serving hundreds of children each season. Sail Newport's mission is to promote and operate affordable public sailing instruction, rental programs and to create opportunities to attract new sailors to the sport.

The team

Team Alvimedica is the youngest entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015, the world's toughest and longest sporting event. The crew is led by American skipper Charlie Enright, age 30. Alvimedica, the European based medical devices company, is the team's owner. Founded in 2007, Alvimedica is a fast growing challenger in the global field of interventional cardiology, committed to developing minimally-invasive technologies. This is the team's first entry in the extremely challenging 39,000-mile race that started October 11, 2014 from Alicante, Spain and features stopovers in 11 ports around the world.

www.teamalvimedica.com