Douglas Memorial Community Church hosted an event against heart disease yesterday. Reverend Sheridan Todd Yeary hold a speech in front of the congregation, while holding a tray filled with ham, cheese and doughnuts. He told the people that the health of their hearts is not their problem but an issue connected to the honoring of what God made them.

The fifth annual Red Dress Sunday is an alliance among 100 churches in the state and St. Agnes Hospital, which is a teaching hospital in Baltimore. This event’s goal is to develop the heart disease awareness in the African-American community. As the Red Dress Sunday teaches the women in this community, the heart disease is the main death cause for black women in the U.S.

The Red Dress Sunday event was held in 2005 for the first time and only three churches took part in the program. David Simpkins was the one who had the idea of the whole event and said that it all came to him when he had realized that something has to be done as to change the health statistics in more people.

Simpkins, vice president of planning and marketing for St. Agnes Hospital, added that the whole thing is about them having the social control for the health of the African-American community. He also said that he had chosen the church as a place to hold this event because it is the only place where you can gather and reach the masses.

And thus being true, hundreds of churchgoers filled Douglas Memorial Community Church yesterday, wearing red hats, red skirts and dresses. Rev. Yeary talked to the community and warned them about the bad effects that the unhealthy food can have over the physical aspects of the heart.