WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular Health^SM program today announced grants to three nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving cardiovascular health in Maryland, totaling $704,379.

The organizations receiving the grants are the Foundation for Community Partnerships in Chester, Md; Saint Agnes Hospital Foundation, Inc. in Baltimore, Md; and Sundance Research Institute in Bethesda, Md. Over the last three years, these organizations have received nearly $1.4 million in grants.

Heart disease accounts for 25 percent of all deaths in Maryland and 22 percent of all deaths in Wyoming, where the Sundance Research Institute program promotes heart health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.¹

The Connections for Cardiovascular Health^SM program annually awards grants of $150,000 or more to U.S.-based nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving cardiovascular health in communities across the United States. This year, the program awarded nearly $3.7 million in grants to 19 organizations. More than $14 million in grants have been awarded through the program since its inception in 2010.

“Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, and organizations like these three in Maryland are creating innovative programs to help prevent and decrease the associated risks with this devastating disease,” said James W. Blasetto, M.D., MPH, FACC, chairman of the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. “We are grateful for their commitment to improving heart health in their communities.”

The Connections for Cardiovascular Health^SM grant awardees are:

Foundation for Community Partnerships in Chester, Md; $267,845: The Partnering for Youth Cardio-Fit Project is targeted toward rural middle and elementary school children and their families. Based on the science supporting cardiovascular health, program participants learn the value of a personal, lifelong commitment to fitness and nutrition via the Partnering for Youth After School Program. The program works to increase students’ physical activity and knowledge of cardiovascular health and provides opportunities to monitor and sustain personal well-being through intense training activities in fitness, nutrition and communications. This is the third consecutive year in which the Foundation for Community Partnerships has received a grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, for a total of $713,997.

Saint Agnes Hospital Foundation, Inc. in Baltimore, Md; $197,634: The Heart-to-Heart initiative works to identify and assess underserved, low-income African American women at high risk for cardiovascular disease and provide a community-based church intervention program that includes nutrition, physical activity and healthy lifestyle education to reduce their risk for heart disease. Progress is measured by clinically significant improvements in laboratory and cardiovascular disease risk profiles at four- and ten-month intervals. This is the second consecutive year in which the Saint Agnes Hospital Foundation has received a grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, for a total of $442,089.

Sundance Research Institute in Bethesda, Md; $238,900: Honoring Your Heart on the Wind River Indian Reservation aims to create a coordinated clinical-community health education program to increase cardiovascular health knowledge and reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors among members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming. The initiative will use a two-part approach that consists of Honoring the Gift of Heart Health classes followed by a 16-week Lifestyle Balance Program focused on physical activity and healthy diet. This is the first year Sundance has received a grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation.

Organizations can learn more and apply online for a Connections for Cardiovascular Health^SM grant at www.astrazeneca-us.com/foundation. Applications must be submitted online no later than 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 27, 2014.

About AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation

Established in 1993, the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation is a Delaware not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) entity organized for charitable purposes, including to promote public awareness of healthcare issues, to promote public education of medical knowledge, and to support or contribute to charitable and qualified exempt organizations consistent with its charitable purpose. Connections for Cardiovascular Health^SM was launched in 2010 through a charitable contribution of $25 million from AstraZeneca.

¹ Murphy, S.L., Xu, J., & Kochanek, K.D. Deaths: Final data for 2010. National vital statistics reports; vol 61 no 4, 85-86. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2013.