The Bond Between Competitors

Mended Hearts is the oldest and largest cardiovascular peer-to-peer support network in the world. This community-based non-profit organization has been offering the gift of hope to heart disease patients, their families and caregivers for 71 years. Mended Hearts’ 72,000 members visit more than 200,000 patients each year in 460 hospitals and rehab centers. With 285 chapters in North America, the organization provides patient visiting program, education, support group meetings and online communities. Our peer support groups help patients and their families understand that there can be a rich, rewarding life after a heart disease diagnosis. To learn more, request support or to find a chapter in your area, visit www.mendedhearts.org or call 888-432-7899. Mended Little Hearts works nationally and in communities to support the families of children born with congenital heart defects. Visit www.mendedlittlehearts.org or call 888-432-7899 for more information. Young Mended Hearts is a safe place for people between the ages of 18 and 55 to talk about their fears and share their successes. Young Mended Hearts can make a tremendous difference in the lives of young adults living with heart disease.

Shared Hope International strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, restore victims of sex slavery, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children. We envision a world passionately opposed to sex trafficking and a community committed to restoring survivors to lives of purpose, value and choice – one life at a time. In 1998, while still a member of the U.S. Congress, Linda Smith traveled to Falkland Road in Mumbai, India—one of the worst brothel districts in the world. The hopeless faces of desperate women and children forced into prostitution compelled Linda to found Shared Hope International. SHI was established to support shelter and service creation for sex trafficking survivors using a comprehensive model for restoration. Today, Shared Hope works to Prevent sex trafficking through training, including our nationally renowned JuST Conference, and our volunteer training program, Ambassadors of Hope. Shared Hope's Restoration initiatives support partners in 4 countries who work to serve and empower survivors of sex trafficking. And finally, Shared Hope is committed to Bringing Justice to perpetrators of sex trafficking, and to get justice for survivors. Shared Hope regularly advocates at the state and federal level for strong laws to protect victims of child sex trafficking and hold perpetrators accountable. SHI's Justice initiatives include the Protected Innocence Challenge, a yearly report card and legal analyses, examining the strength of each state's laws to fight child sex trafficking, and the Stop the inJuSTice Campaign, designed to engage the public & lawmakers in improving our laws to address domestic minor sex trafficking.

Friendship Circle provides assistance and support to 3,000 individuals with special needs and their families by providing recreational, social, educational, and vocational programming. We have over 40 unique programs that provide children and adults a space to grow, create, learn, and connect with each other and with our volunteers. We make sure to work individually with families to understand the individual's specific needs and create the best environment for them to thrive in.