Strive for Life Foundation exists to help families identify hidden heart conditions in children before tragedy strikes. We raise funds, build community partnerships, and help make comprehensive youth heart screenings more accessible for the families who need them most.
Too many heart conditions in children go undetected because they often do not cause symptoms and may not be found during a routine sports physical or checkup. Families are left assuming everything is fine—until something happens that no one saw coming.
Strive for Life Foundation was created to help change that. Our mission is to support early detection by helping families gain access to advanced youth heart screenings and by raising awareness about the importance of testing beyond a stethoscope or standard physical.
We are a nonprofit organization focused on making potentially life-saving heart screenings more available through funding, outreach, and community support.
We help reduce cost barriers for families so more children can receive comprehensive heart screening.
We work with schools, nonprofits, community leaders, and youth organizations to help bring screenings directly into local communities.
We educate families and supporters about hidden heart conditions and why early detection matters.
Strive for Life Foundation is led by a committed group of board members, advisors, ambassadors, and founding supporters who help guide the mission, strengthen community partnerships, and expand access to life-saving youth heart screenings.
Amy Ebert serves as Board President for Strive for Life and brings a deeply personal connection to the organization’s mission. A longtime Lee’s Summit resident, wife, mother of three, and experienced mortgage professional, Amy has spent many years volunteering and supporting causes close to her heart.
Her passion for Strive for Life began after My HeartCheck identified previously undiagnosed heart conditions in two of her children, including one that required life-saving intervention. That experience gave Amy a firsthand understanding of the importance of preventative heart screenings and the impact they can have on families.
Today, Amy is dedicated to raising awareness and support for Strive for Life, helping more families gain access to screenings that can detect hidden heart conditions before it’s too late.
These board members help provide leadership, continuity, and community direction for the foundation’s work.
Michele Frumkin is the owner of KC Wine & Spirits in Overland Park, Kansas, a business she has led since 2016. She has been a dedicated supporter of Strive for Life Foundation for several years, including serving as a sponsor in 2023 and 2024.
Michele’s connection to the mission is personal, as her nephew was born with a heart defect. With a background in international marketing and experience across business, hospitality, media, and real estate, Michele brings valuable perspective to the board and is passionate about helping more families access potentially life-saving HeartChecks.
Nathan Kramer helps support Strive for Life’s community relationships and outreach efforts. Additional bio details will be added soon.
Heather Alvarez continues to support Strive for Life as Immediate Past President, bringing valuable continuity, leadership experience, and perspective to the board. Professionally, Heather serves as Area Vice President of Clinical Operations with Maxim Healthcare Services.
Our board members help advance awareness, fundraising, event support, and access to screenings for more children and families.
Jordan Crow is a regional sales executive for IPFS, serving the Midwest across Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. She is a University of Kansas graduate and is actively involved in the insurance industry, including her role as Chair of the Young Insurance Agents of Kansas.
Jordan’s connection to Strive for Life is deeply personal. In 2024, her son Amari received what their family expected to be a routine HeartCheck. The screening led to additional testing and a diagnosis of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In January 2025, Amari underwent a successful heart procedure and is now back to the activities he loves, including basketball and soccer.
That experience gave Jordan and her family a firsthand understanding of the importance of early detection. She joined the Strive for Life board to help raise awareness and support so more families have access to potentially life-saving HeartChecks.
Angie Tomas lives in Olathe with her husband, Nathan, and their three children, Henry, Jack, and Grace. She has been an educator in the Blue Valley School District for 26 years and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family, attending sporting events, and reading.
Angie’s connection to heart health is deeply personal. Her father underwent open-heart surgery nearly 20 years ago, and later, her son Jack was diagnosed with a heart condition after receiving a HeartCheck. Her daughter has also been diagnosed with a heart issue. These experiences have given Angie a firsthand understanding of how important early detection can be for children and families. She is grateful for the work of Strive for Life and is passionate about helping more families access potentially life-saving HeartChecks.
Anai Torres serves as a member of the Strive for Life board and supports the foundation’s mission to help expand awareness, access, and community support for youth heart screenings. Additional bio details will be added soon.
Strive for Life is proud to include a student voice in our mission, helping connect the importance of youth heart screenings directly to students, families, schools, and young athletes.
Kaylee Ballard is a high school student, competitive volleyball player, and proud Student Ambassador for the Strive for Life Foundation. She brings an important youth perspective to the mission and is helping raise awareness among students, families, and young athletes about the importance of early heart screening.
Kaylee’s passion for heart health awareness is deeply personal. With heart conditions impacting her own family, she understands how important it is for children and young adults to have access to HeartChecks, especially because serious heart conditions can go undetected with no warning signs. In addition to sharing the mission, Kaylee is taking action through her own fundraising efforts to support Strive for Life and help make HeartChecks more accessible for children and families. Her leadership reflects the next generation of advocates helping turn awareness into real impact.Behind the scenes, Strive for Life is supported by people who help keep communication, organization, and mission activity moving forward.
Kerry Kuluva supports Strive for Life through administrative coordination, communication, and mission support. Professionally, Kerry serves as Office Manager with Bringing Therapy Home.
Strive for Life Foundation is also strengthened by trusted advisors whose leadership, professional experience, and continued support help guide the board and expand the foundation’s reach.
Mark Grover serves on the Advisory Council and brings legal, business, and community perspective to the foundation. Professionally, Mark is Principal of Grover Law Firm.
Jim Passantino has supported Strive for Life since 2018, serving in multiple leadership roles, including President. A Kansas City-area native, Jim is a digital marketing consultant and co-founder of Aged & Charred. He continues to support the organization as an advisor, bringing entrepreneurial insight, community focus, and a strong commitment to helping more families gain access to life-saving heart screenings.
Strive for Life’s work is rooted in its connection to youth heart screening access. Our founding advisors continue to provide perspective from My HeartCheck while the foundation maintains its separate nonprofit role focused on access, awareness, and support.
Eric Schroeder serves as a Founding Advisor and provides mission perspective connected to My HeartCheck and youth heart screening access.
David Kuluva serves as a Founding Advisor and provides mission perspective connected to My HeartCheck and youth heart screening access.
Strive for Life Foundation partners with My HeartCheck, an independent screening provider that performs the clinical testing services used at many of the events and screenings we support.
My HeartCheck provides the actual heart screenings, while Strive for Life focuses on charitable support, awareness, and access. That means our role is to help families and communities make these screenings possible—not to provide the medical services ourselves.
This relationship allows Strive to stay focused on mission impact while helping fund access to services that can identify heart issues that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Strive for Life Foundation is a nonprofit organization. My HeartCheck is the screening provider. We support access to screenings through fundraising and community outreach, while the medical screening itself is provided separately.
Some dangerous heart conditions in children do not show obvious symptoms and may not be detected during a routine exam. Families deserve the chance to know more.
For many families, screening offers reassurance. For others, it can uncover something important early enough to change a child’s future.
Awareness alone is not enough. Families also need affordable opportunities and community support to actually get testing done.
We never lose sight of the families behind the mission.
We work to remove barriers that keep kids from being screened.
We believe mission work should be transparent, responsible, and community-centered.
We turn support into real opportunities for families and real impact in communities.
Whether you give, sponsor, host, or help spread awareness, your support helps bring more life-saving screening opportunities to children and families.
The Strive for Life Foundation exists to help protect children from undiagnosed heart conditions by expanding access to professional heart screenings, especially in high-need communities.
My HeartCheck provides the clinically based heart screening services for youth, including EKGs and echocardiograms with medical review by pediatric cardiologists.
Strive for Life Foundation raises charitable funds to help ensure that cost is not a barrier for families or communities in need.
The two organizations are separate and independently governed, with distinct roles:
My HeartCheck operates as a medical services provider.
Strive for Life Foundation determines how and where charitable funds are used to support screenings.
Charitable contributions to Strive for Life Foundation may be used to:
Provide financial assistance to qualifying families through an application-based aid program
Support fully funded heart screening events in high-need communities.
When Strive for Life Foundation supports screenings, it does so under a written service agreement at fair market value, just as it would with any qualified provider. This structure ensures transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship of donor funds.
This approach allows us to:
Deliver high-quality medical screenings efficiently
Target charitable dollars to families and communities with the greatest need
Maintain clear accountability and separation between charitable fundraising and medical service delivery
Our focus is simple: helping more children receive life-saving heart screenings.
