Thursday, December 24, 2009

The Heart of Dunwoody successfully places an AED in every Police Car.



By: Bob Lundsten

About 6 months ago, after attending a City Council meeting and hearing a story of a gentleman saved by an AED in Chamblee, I decided to see if I could raise the money to place AED in every Dunwoody Police car in the City. The Heart of Dunwoody was started.

We set a goal of 47 AEDs with an approximate cost of $75,000 and a deadline to deliver the AEDs to the City at the kick off of our Holiday Season, “Light up Dunwoody”

On September 15th the Heart of Dunwoody delivered all the AEDs to the City. Within a month, the Chief and his fine staff had all the police officers trained and the AEDs were fully deployed in every patrol car. This was a whole month ahead of the schedule that we had set for ourselves.

Last Thursday, December 17th, my wife Kathy and the Chief of Police received a donation of $3,000 from The Dunwoody Women’s Club that completed the financial campaign. I am happy to announce that every AED is in the field, officers are all trained and ALL the AEDs are fully paid for.

People have been extremely kind to Kathy and me, saying how grateful they were for us undertaking this endeavor and how important these devices are for the protection of all the citizens of Dunwoody. However it is the City of Dunwoody and all of its residents that deserve the thanks.

So while not a complete list, I would like to thank a few groups and individuals for making this a reality:
  • The DHA for its contribution that kicked us off to a great start.
  • The PCID for kicking in, in a big way for all the people at Perimeter Center and Perimeter Mall
  • The Dunwoody United Methodist Church for their ongoing support of the Dunwoody Community and generous financial contribution
  • The Dunwoody City Council for their support and individual contributions
  • The GID Group and Dillard and Galloway, for contributing to a cause that their future tenants and clients will be protect by.
  • The Boy Scout Troop from St. Lukes, who decided to make the Heart of Dunwoody one of its charitable causes
  • The Marcus Center and Michael Wise for his continued support of the entire Dunwoody Community
  • To the Cunnold family, who allowed me to use the story of the untimely passing of Derek Cunnold to illustrate the desperate need for AEDs throughout Dunwoody. While the void in their lives can never be filled, dozens of friends who donated in his memory, helped us reach this goal

Most of all I would like to thank the hundreds of individual contributors, tennis clubs and service organizations who donated amounts from $18 to $1500, allowing us to raise this money faster than even I imagined we could. It was the Dunwoody Community that did this. It was the caring about one another that truly made this a wonderful Holiday gift from the Community to the Community.

It is what the Heart of Dunwoody was all about.

Thank you all so much. Have a Happy Holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Bob and Kathy Lundsten

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