Spring Season in Review: Providing free CPR, AED, & First Aid Training and Partnering with Ronald McDonald House

According to the American Heart Association, there were more than 350,000 incidences of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in 2016. That’s why the Disque Foundation works to empower as many people to save lives by providing them with CPR training.

This spring has been a busy time for us here at the Disque Foundation. Our empowerment team has been out and about, partnering with several organizations to provide them with free CPR training and other services.

Our first spring partnership was with Defenders, a security system supplier located in Indianapolis. Our medical educator, Lauren Diffendarfer, trained about 10 employees in how to perform CPR, use an AED, and relieve choking for adults, children, and infants.


“Everyone afterwards commented on how great the class was and how much they appreciated [the Disque Foundation] coming out to help us. I have so much more peace of mind now knowing what to do if my baby or infant chokes.” – Katie Koenig, Financial Manager at Defenders

The Disque Foundation also partnered with Habitat for Humanity in Fort Wayne in order to train their employees in CPR, AED, & FIrst Aid. Lauren Diffendarfer, Andy Barnes, and Andrew Howard from our empowerment team worked together to demonstrate the skills necessary to save someone’s life in a cardiac emergency and teach about 10 employees from Habitat for Humanity.

However, the CPR, AED, & First Aid training didn’t stop there. Lauren also held our first ever live training webinar with two caregivers from Brea Retreat, an assisted-living facility in Orange County, California.

Additionally, Lauren, along with Marc Poirier, worked with Starfish Initiative in Indianapolis to teach CPR, AED,& First Aid to their employees. Starfish Initiative is dedicated to to making a difference in the lives of at-risk and economically disadvantaged high school students.

“It was so awesome to work with a group so eager to learn CPR.”-Lauren Diffendarfer, Medical Educator at the Disque Foundation

The Disque Foundation also partnered with the Christian Youth Theater in Indianapolis. Lauren trained about 15 of their employees and summer camp counselors in CPR, AED, & First Aid.

We are also excited to announce a new partnership with St. John of Health Center Cameroon in Central Africa. They work to provide services, such as providing support to people with mental health problems, children with disabilities, those in need of rehabilitation as well as food security, water and sanitation programs. The Disque Foundation is providing them with free ACLS, BLS and CPR certification on our site

Aside from providing CPR training, the Disque Foundation often partners with the Ronald McDonald House, hosting events for the children and their families residing there. The leadership team for the Disque Foundation took a break from their quarterly meeting to visit the Ronald McDonald House in Chicago and host an event for the children staying there, in which the children were able to create marshmallow shooters. Thanks to the help of Lori Howard,
the kids we’re able to craft their own shooters and decorate them with tape and markers to match their own personal style. The kids were given mini marshmallow and that’s when the fun began! Non-stop fun was had by the kids, families and team members as battles erupted and smiles were on every face.

“The marshmallow shooters were a huge hit with the kids and the families at Ronald McDonald House. Kids were running all over the place with their creations and handfuls of marshmallows. It was definitely a hit!” -Mackenzie Thompson, Marketing Associate at the Disque Foundation

The Disque Foundation partnered with RMH again this spring to host another event. This time, the children spent their night celebrating the beautiful spring season by designing and creating caterpillars.