From the heart, for the heart
A table of sugary treats is probably not quite what the doctor ordered, but in this case, the baked goods were helping the heart.
A group of Palmerston North girls put their spatulas to work and sold the product of their labour from an Aokautere home on Saturday.
Nine-year-old Eden Brown said they held the bake sale to raise money for Palmerston North woman Bette Flagler, who will run in the Wellington Half Marathon this month to raise money for the Heart Foundation.
They dropped flyers around the neighbourhood, and put a notice on the letterbox, to let people know what they were doing, she said.
Sophia Brown, 7, was in charge of the till, and said they had raised more than $70 by the time the Manawatu Standard paid a visit. Maddison Kerr, 7, and Myah Kerr, 5, completed the foursome of biscuit, brownie, cupcake and scone makers.
By the end of the sale, the girls had raised $144.
Flagler said she thought the bake sale was a fantastic idea.
She had a form of ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm disorder, which was very difficult to repair. While not fatal, it kept her from doing things like riding bikes, running and tramping.
She was unable to do simple tasks, like cleaning, when the condition was at its worst.
‘‘It was awfully hard on me, my husband and all my friends and family.’’
Hard work by her GP and cardiologist in Palmerston North, and a electrophysiologist in Wellington, helped fix her heart.
Flagler said she was not quite back to full capacity yet.
‘‘It took me a good 12 months to trust my heart, and another six to be brave enough to train hard. I’m still a really slow runner and I’m nowhere near as fit as I once was. But I’m getting there.’’
Flagler said she was grateful for the support the Heart Foundation gave towards research into heart disease, and fundraising for the foundation was her way of saying thank you.
Flagler’s fundraising page is at everydayhero.co.nz