If you or a loved one ever needs cardiac care, you'll want plenty of both, before and after surgery. And if you or a family member have ever had cardiac care at Allen Hospital, you may already know Frederick (Bud) Dell.

"I like getting heart patients motivated," says Bud, an active Allen volunteer and local officer of The Mended Hearts, Inc. "They're very worried people, and they have a right to be."

Mended Hearts partners with medical professionals, supporting heart disease patients and their families. The 200-member Cedar Valley Chapter has given plenty of help and encouragement to others since its founding in 1982.

"I was extremely impressed with Allen, the staff and the volunteers who worked with me after my heart surgery in 1992," recalls Bud. "Harry Sullivan visited me as a Mended Hearts volunteer. Then I visited him a few years ago when he had his second heart operation. We laughed and called that Harry's payback."

"Bud was on the road many years as a Procter & Gamble salesman, so he can talk to anybody, and he usually does," laughs Bud's wife Jackie. But while Bud's spirit and humor endear him to patients and families, Jackie turns serious describing his impact at the bedside. "These people see Bud up on his feet walking, talking, joking and living a normal life. He always tells them, 'If you listen to the doctor, you can do this, too.' They see him, and they believe."

Bud began volunteering when Dr. Robert Morrison, now retired, first worked with him in cardiac rehabilitation. Today, Bud volunteers 25 hours a week at Allen in several capacities: Allen Foundation board, Mended Hearts board and visitor training chair, Patient Advisory Committee, Cardiac Rehab Phase II and maintenance helper. In addition, he and Jackie serve as vice-chairs of the Allen Auxiliary, assist with the Allen Golf Tournament and help the Salvation Army and Northeast Iowa Food Bank. If cardiac rehabilitation were a sport, Bud's picture would be on every Wheaties box in the Cedar Valley.

"Allen is very much our local family," Bud points out, noting that their two sons live in Oklahoma and South Dakota. "The people and staff at Allen are the friendliest people I have ever been around. They probably keep us here in Waterloo. Jackie and I had originally planned to move south in retirement, but we never quite got around to it."

Maybe you know someone who's been encouraged through recovery-and sometimes even guided on their first steps after surgery-by an Allen volunteer like Bud. Volunteers use equipment like exercise bikes, monitors and treadmills and programs like Mended Hearts to affect the hope and recovery of Allen cardiac rehabilitation patients every day. You can help with that hope and recovery as well by making a gift to the Allen Foundation.

Gifts to the Allen Foundation fund the purchase of new equipment, programs and building or lab improvements. Whether you give $20 or $2,000, your support can go directly to Allen heart programs. You can designate Allen Cardiac Rehabilitation for all heart patients or Lift Up Your Heart, Allen's new program especially for women. As always, you may direct your gift to any Allen program. We never forget that it's your money and your choice. We always appreciate the chance you give us to help others in need.

Want to learn more? Just click on How Can I...? or e-mail Allen Foundation Director Matt Rolinger at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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