Photo by Kevin Stenhouse
DR. ANMOL & RAMAN KAPOOR ALBERTA-BASED CARDIOLOGIST, DIETITIAN/ PRODUCER/ FOUNDERS OF THE DILK WALK FOUNDATION. " Pick up a field that you can work in for years. Go for a career that makes you happy and which you can make a difference to humanity. Be kind to one another and be passionate about whatever you do. Sometimes your hobby can become your work. Teamwork and compromise are key for a family to achieve their individual and common goals."
The Dilwalk Gala will be held on Saturday, November 3, at the Sheraton Eau Claire. Prepare to be dazzled and entertained throughout the night at the exclusive Sheraton Eau Claire, in downtown Calgary. When you arrive, the red carpet will be waiting for you to be photographed in front of our media wall. The dinner, silent auction and entertainment is certain to leave you amazed. The evening will be hosted by Ania Basak, one of the most influential women in the fashion and beauty industry in the province of Alberta. The charitable nature of DWF means that 100% of the funds go directly towards furthering medical and research necessities in our community.
The DIL Walk Foundation (DO IT FOR LIFE with a focus on WELLNESS, ACCESS, LINKAGES AND KNOWLEDGE), is a volunteer run charity that has touched the lives of over 25,000 people through its initiatives. We talked to one of its founders, Dr. Anmol Kapoor about this great cause and the fundraising gala taking place in November 3rd.
Dr. Kapoor Interview by Blaine Schlechter
Hello Dr. Kapoor. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today about the charity and your upcoming Gala. You are the founders of DIL Walk, which stands for Do It for Life and Wellness, Access, Linkages and Knowledge. Can you tell me a bit about the charity and what it raises money for?
It is a 100% volunteer run charity. What that means is there is no administration cost, so no money taken in for admin or expenses. So every board of director, any person who helps the charity is a volunteer. That is the number one distinction between this charity and other charities. This charity has been working in the field of helping patients who are at risk for having heart disease, or are at risk of developing heart disease. That includes patients who have heart failure or vulnerable population such as refugees coming in and other visible minorities, that’s where the focus has been. There are many gaps in the healthcare system, and one gap is the vulnerable population such as visible minorities with heart failure, woman or children. Something is lost where they fall through the cracks and there is no safety net for them to help out because the system has been stretched to the maximum. For example, with heart failure, in Alberta we have over 80,000 patients living in Alberta with heart failure and every year over 50,000 hospital patients related to heart failure. On average, in Alberta, when a patient gets admitted to the hospital for heart failure, they stay in the hospital for 8 about days. You can imagine those patients, and they are going back again and again because of heart failure and they are confined to those beds and sometimes they get jammed up in the emergency room because there is nowhere to move. It is a chronic condition and it is a condition that leads to worse outcomes, that includes death and sometimes the outcomes are worse than having breast cancer or certain types of colon cancer. But somehow, in Alberta, we are not paying much attention out in the community for these patients. These patients can’t access services like a palliative care patient or cancer care patient can access, but we know the outcome is as bad as having some serious cancer. Someone who has cancer, the doctors can have a feeling about how long a person can live, so palliative care is usually comfortable taking those patients because they want to use resources accordingly. Heart patients can sometimes be left behind in the palliative care side, but out on the community side, we have thousands of patients living there who really need our support and someone who can tell them what medications to be taking, what their outcomes are, how they can look after themselves and what resources are out there for them in the healthcare system to bridge that gap. There is a lot of anxiety; a lot of stress comes in, a lot of operation mentality for those patients that are going to need it. So DIL Walk foundation ended up helping Alberta’s only community based heart failure clinic, called CHARM. It’s the only clinic in Alberta in the community, because usually heart clinics are in hospitals. So people who are out here, they are stable but they could become sick tomorrow. For them, they only have to go back to their doctor, or get a hold of a cardiologist if their lucky, otherwise they have to go back to the emergency room. DIL Walk Foundation raises them money to help these patients out there in the community and help them get connected with the nurses in the community and help reduce hospital visits. So if there were to reduce hospital visits, they are able to free up beds in hospitals in Alberta. At the same time, the longer these patients stay out of hospitals, the longer they live.
How long has the charity been around for?
The charity has been around since 2011, so it’s in its 7th year now.
You have one of your major fundraising events come up, your Gala on Nov 3. What can people expect when they attend the event?
They will be expecting a red carpet evening. They will be welcomed by exotic cars, such as Ferrari, Maserati and Rolls Royce of Alberta from our sponsors. As they walk in they will be welcomed with champagne and welcomed by volunteers at the gala. There will be a silent auction and they will be dazzled by amazing entertainment as this year's’ theme is Techno beat. There will be talking about heart disease and how technology can help these patients out in the community. There’s an amazing, special meal which will be served on the table and exclusive for the Gala. There will be other entertainment and local Calgary bands will be performing there. There will be photo booths and other amazing speakers coming out, including Alberta’s Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, she is one of the keynote speakers.
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