THIS PAGE IS LOCKED! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR AN AMAZING EVENT! PLEASE HEAD TO https://www.heartsinharmonyfoundation.org/ FOR DONATIONS AND FOUNDATION INFO!

We are excited to invite you to the 2nd annual Shake It For Shea gala, a fundraiser for Long QT Syndrome research! Featuring entertainment from the amazing Bobby Attiko Band, we would love for you to join us for a night of eating, drinking, and, of course, dancing, while supporting an incredibly worthwhile cause.

🗓 Date: June 6, 7:30pm - 11:30pm

🌎 Location: The Warehouse at FTC
70 Sanford Street, Fairfield, CT 06824

🎟 Tickets: $200 per person

🍸 Attire: Cocktail

🩺 Supporting: Long QT Syndrome research at the Mayo Clinic's Sudden Death Genomics Lab, led by Dr, Michael Ackerman, via our Hearts in Harmony Foundation (EIN: 93-4667555)

We understand that not everyone may be able to join us for the gala. However, your support remains invaluable to our cause. If you are unable to attend but would still like to contribute, we warmly welcome any donations. Your generosity will play a crucial role in our efforts and is greatly appreciated, whether in person or in spirit.

For those who would like to donate through a donor-advised fund (DAF) or through their company, or otherwise donate through a way other than this website, please email us at markgreenfield1@gmail.com.

Why Long QT Syndrome research? Read on.

Our daughter, Shea Gloria Greenfield, was born on June 20, 2022. That same day, Shea’s heart stopped beating.

Doctors scrambled to restart her heartbeat, which they were able to do, but they knew something was very wrong. They immediately performed an electrocardiogram (EKG) scan which revealed something called a “prolonged QT interval”, meaning that Shea’s heart’s electrical system was taking longer than usual to recharge between beats.

Genetic testing later confirmed what our doctors had feared: Shea was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome (LQTS) Type 2, and had one of the most severe cases our doctors had ever seen in a newborn.

We immediately started researching everything we could about LQTS, and we did not like what we found. Shea caught what could be described as a very unlucky break in the genetic lottery, as her condition is the result of a genetic mutation. This past January, we spent a week at the Mayo Clinic for further testing and discovered that Shea's condition is even more serious and unstable than we initially thought, motivating us more than ever to do what we can to find a cure.

LQTS is a life-altering heart condition, one that puts Shea at risk of fainting, seizures, cardiac arrest, and sudden death. Undiagnosed cases of LQTS are thought to be the causes of many cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and it’s also often the culprit when you hear of an athlete passing out on the field and needing to be revived. Shea has to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) nearby at all times in case her heart stops beating, and she sleeps with a heart monitor connected to her to alert us if she suffers an arrhythmia during her sleep.

Sadly, there is no cure for Long QT Syndrome. While beta blockers and antiarrhythmia medications can help reduce Shea’s risk, the risk of sudden death is still present.

As we went further down the path of trying to help Shea, we came across Dr. Michael Ackerman at the Mayo Clinic, a doctor who has dedicated his career to LQTS and other related heart conditions. In addition to advising our local electrophysiology team on Shea’s best care, Dr. Ackerman also runs the Sudden Death Genomics Lab at the Mayo Clinic, where his team is doing the most cutting-edge research related to LQTS. If there is ever a hope of curing this awful condition, or even greatly reducing the risk of death, Dr. Ackerman and his team will be the ones to discover it.

At last year's Shake it for Shea gala, we raised $290,000 for Dr. Ackerman's lab, which has continued to help support research, clinical trials, and hopefully, an ultimate cure. Specifically, our funds were able to help accelerate and prioritize the Mayo Clinic's work on a hybrid suppression-replacement gene therapy for Shea's exact LQTS mutation, which you can read more about here.

Over the past year, we launched our own 501(c)(3) called Hearts in Harmony Foundation, which will allow us to more effectively raise funds and support Long QT Syndrome research. Like last year, we are organizing this gala to raise money for Dr. Ackerman’s research lab. It would mean the world to us for our friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, and anyone else to get together and help support this cause.

Bobby Attiko, who performed at our wedding in June 2017, has again generously agreed to donate his time and provide some awesome tunes for the event. As anyone who attended our wedding can tell you: make sure to bring your dancing shoes!

Tickets are $200 per person, and you are of course welcome to donate beyond that if you wish. We also are offering Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Premier sponsorships for $1,500, $2,500, $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000, respectively, for larger donors who will be featured on signage and other event materials.

If you can’t attend, we would welcome any donation. Every dollar helps, and our family is forever grateful for anyone that chooses to support Shea and the research for Long QT Syndrome.

Our Hearts in Harmony Foundation will be directing the money raised to support Dr. Ackerman’s research at the Mayo Clinic, which you can read more about here: Windland Smith Rice Sudden Death Genomics Lab.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about Shea, Long QT Syndrome, the Mayo Clinic’s research efforts, or anything related to the event. You can email us at kelkind7@gmail.com and markgreenfield1@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for your support, and we look forward to seeing you on the dance floor on June 6. All are welcome, so please feel free to pass this along to anyone who might be interested in attending or donating.

Love,

Kira and Mark Greenfield

Hearts in Harmony Foundation (EIN: 93-4667555):

A very special thanks to our founding board members:
Patty Antin
Mian Azmy
Neal Chandoke
Morgan Sheres

Portrait of Iggy Pop by Peter Hujar from the Morrison Hotel Gallery Collection