WomenHeart and General Mills teamed up to provide more than 900 women with free total cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose screenings and an overall health assessment as part of the Cheerios 2008 Circle of Helping Hearts Tour®. WomenHeart volunteers were at each stop along the way to answer questions about women and heart disease and to be sure everyone received a WomenHeart Red Bag of Courage®, full of important heart health information and good-for-your-heart products.

The Cheerios Circle of Helping Hearts Tour bus is a Winnebago, donated by WomenHeart partner GlaxoSmithKline, wrapped to look like a Cheerios® box! Cheerios retailer VONs Supermarkets hosted four tour stops in their parking lots and customers received Cheerios coupons as they shopped. Other tour stops included the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles, Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, CA and the Jean McLaughlin Women’s Center in Poway, CA.

The tour made its way to Casa Familiar, on the border between California and Mexico, where Spanish-speaking volunteers screened and answered questions about heart disease for the more than 200 served.  Many were so grateful for the opportunity to help them take care of their health. One woman said she walked “miles” to attend.

Look for news about the 2009 WomenHeart and Cheerios Circle of Helping Hearts Tour on Cheerios® boxes starting in late January 2009. Find your code under the red flap on the box and enter it at www.cheerioshelpinghearts.com. For each code entered Cheerios will donate $1.00 towards cholesterol screening for women in need, up to $200,000! The 2009 Circle of Helping Hearts just might roll into your neighborhood!