When Kaila Unae Porter passed away in 2007, at age 23 following a lifelong battle with heart disease, her mother, Faye Jackson, decided to make sure that her memory would not be forgotten and that Kaila’s experiences would serve to help other women to value their own heart health.
Since then, Jackson has been a leading voice in encouraging the local community to take heart health seriously and has ensured that the City of Laurel recognizes National Wear Red Day annually with an official proclamation signing.
Most of those annual proclamations have been signed by Mayor Johnny Magee who was friends with Kaila Porter and has been a strong supporter of Jackson’s efforts to raise awareness about heart health especially among women.
Mayor Magee kept up the tradition on Monday by signing a proclamation to declare Friday, February 7, 2025 as Wear Red Day in the City of Laurel.
Wearing red on Wear Red Day demonstrates unity, strength, and “that it matters,” Jackson explained as she encouraged everyone to wear red on Friday. “We can conquer it,” she said.
The proclamation read as follows:
Whereas, heart disease is the number one killer of women, causing one in every four deaths among women; and
Whereas, women’s risk of heart disease begins to increase between ages forty and sixty; and
Whereas, woman historically, have failed to make the connection between risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol and their personal risk of developing heart disease; and
Whereas, research reveals that most women underestimate their personal risk and do not fully understand the devastating impact that heart disease has on one’s life and family; and
Whereas, Wear Red Day is a program which was begun in 2001 when 70 leading experts in women’s health sought to develop a national action plan to reduce the toll of heart disease on American women; and
Whereas, Wear Red Day is designed to get attention, to convey the seriousness of heart disease, and to change the perception that heart disease is only a man’s issue; and
Whereas, the first Friday in February of each year has been designated Wear Red Day by The Heart Truth, which is the national campaign for awareness of women’s heart health sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS); and
Whereas, the City of Laurel wishes to participate in this worthwhile program
Now, therefore, I, Johnny Magee, Mayor of the City of Laurel, do hereby declare Friday, February 7, 2025 as National Wear Red Day in the City of Laurel and encourage all citizens to educate themselves about the risk factors of heart disease in women, the seriousness of the impact of heart disease on women and their families, and the importance of taking actions among women to protect their heart health
In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Laurel, Mississippi, to be affixed to this the 3rd day of February, A.D. 2025.
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