When I joined the American Heart Association in late 2005 as head of communications for Metro Boston, I told my new boss that I had a big goal. The AHA had been turning iconic landmarks including Niagara Falls and the Empire State Building red to spotlight the Go Red For Women campaign. But such a high-impact landmark hadn’t gone red in Boston. I set my sights on the newest Boston icon at the time, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge.

The first Friday of February is #WearRedDay, a celebration of Go Red for Women that raises awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. It encourages women to know their numbers — things like blood pressure, BMI, and fasting blood sugar — get involved, and donate to worthy causes like the AHA itself. 

In 2006, we blasted the trumpets together to elevate the campaign in Boston. Thanks to a partnership with the Mass Turnpike Authority, we turned the Zakim Bridge red. Five radio stations stepped up to be media sponsors, as did WCVB Channel 5, the ABC affiliate in Boston. We did a special insert in The Boston Globe, featuring a center spread photoshoot with news anchors, political luminaries, community leaders, and heart disease and stroke survivors. The airwaves were saturated with a simple message: know your numbers and wear red for women. And it made the Go Red for Women Luncheon in Boston feel even more special.

The campaign was successful by every metric we identified at the outset — a high-impact landmark, tons of media impressions, visits to the website, record fundraising at the luncheon. What a pleasure to have been a part of it, together with countless others who helped to ring the bell.

Many thanks to Dr. Jay Connor for this stunning picture of the Zakim dressed in red — like you should on February’s First Friday!