On Friday, February 7, 2014, UC Davis is launching UC Davis Wears Red Day, a new campus-wide initiative spearheaded by the Chancellor's Office--in partnership with Dr. Amparo Villablanca, Director of the UC Davis Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program, and Adele Zhang, curator of the UC Davis Design Museum--to help raise awareness with the entire UC Davis community that heart disease is the leading killer of women, as well as men, in the United States. The goal is to have as many departments and organizations as possible participate by wearing red and by identifying their own ways to encourage heart health, focusing on their unique strengths and abilities.
To show just how dedicated UC Davis is to this important cause, they have set their sights high with the goal of breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest heart formation, currently at 11,166 people. To achieve this goal, they're asking that the entire UC Davis community--quite literally--come together wearing red at a designated campus location on February 7. Their hope is that this event will be a great opportunity for the campus to show how the small acts of individuals, when multiplied by the power of an entire community, can have a HUGE impact.
To help ensure that UC Davis Wears Red is a success, UC Davis Stores is getting involved by selling a specially designed red T-shirt. Because they're produced in-house, the shirts are being sold at a very affordable price. Currently on sale for just $5, the store is donating one dollar from each purchase to the UC Davis Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program.
"It's been so much fun to see the excitement level of the students who come into the store to purchase them. We sold nearly 100 T-shirts in the first day!" described Carol Swafford, Associate Director of Sales. "Our goal is to sell 5000, which would result in a $5000 donation to the Medicine program."
The campus is also in the process of setting up promotions with campus partners to offer discounts on February 7 for people wearing the official T-shirt.
"We've really enjoyed collaborating with all of the other departments on campus to make this a reality," she added. "It's great that we can all work together toward one cause, and I can't wait to see the outcome!"
