Wear Red for Women Donates AEDs To Two Sedalia Churches

Members of Wear Red for Women, a Bothwell Foundation committee, recently gave automated external defibrillators (AED) to New Hope Baptist Church and Parkview Christian Church in Sedalia.

An AED is a small, lightweight device that allows individuals and first responders to treat sudden cardiac arrest. The machine automatically analyzes the heart rhythm and when appropriate, it delivers an electrical shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm.

Funds to purchase the devices were raised during the 2023 Wear Red for Women luncheon and auction. The committee’s goal is to have AEDs in every place people work, learn, play or pray in Sedalia and Pettis County. Since the inception of the luncheon event in 2020, 72 AEDs have been placed in or committed to various locations. The 2024 Wear Red for Women event is Feb. 23, 2024, and tickets will be available in January.

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In the top photo: New Hope Baptist Church received an automatic external defibrillator, from left, Robin Balke and Rhonda Ahern, committee members; Dr. Bill Vance, church security officer; Marc Knappe, church pastor; Lori Wightman, Bothwell CEO and committee co-chair; Lauren Thiel-Payne, Bothwell Foundation executive director; Trish Henson, committee member; Carlene Ficken; and Dianne Simon, committee co-chair.

In the photo below: Parkview Christian Church received an automatic external defibrillator, from left, Joyce Monroe, church member; Lauren Thiel-Payne, Bothwell Foundation executive director; Connie McLaughlin, committee member; Dianne Simon, Thompson Hills Investment Corporation vice president and committee co-chair; Jeff Randleman, church pastor; Lori Wightman, Bothwell CEO and committee co-chair; and Rhonda Ahern and Trish Henson, committee members.