American Heart Association Heart Walk

L.L. Bean Operators

This team is walking in support of our friend and coworker Kyle Payson and this is his story.

My name is Kyle Payson. I have worked with Tj Rice, coach of the L.L Bean Operators 2026

Heart Walk team for about three years. Although I cannot participate in the actual walk this year, the ethos of the event hits close to home for me, and my association with Tj gives me a reason to share the personal connection I have to the objective of the Heart Walk.

I, at the age of 25, am without my parents. I lost each one of them to different forms of heart

disease, my mother in 2020 to atherosclerotic heart disease brought on by complications of

type 1 diabetes, and my father in 2024 to a heart attack. They both died young, at ages 58 and

63, respectively. Each of their passings were sudden and unexpected.

Grief, particularly in the wake of loss at a young age, makes the bereaved consider things that

their peers may not think about often. Since learning that the causes of both my parent's

deaths were related to heart disease, my own heart health has been top of mind for me. The biggest way I keep my cardiovascular system healthy is actually by walking. I try to walk for at least an hour day, and am preparing to embark on my second walk across the country this summer along the Pacific Crest Trail.

I love to walk because it's so simple and so accessible. It is such an easy way to stay active

and healthy, and it can be as casual or as serious as you want it to be. Despite the ease of

access and low intensity, the physical and mental benefits of walking cannot be understated. I think the Heart Walk is the perfect event to promote the benefits of walking and also to raise funds to achieve the organization's other objectives of funding research and inspiring CPR

education.

Donate Now

Join Team

Team Roster

Raised

Tj Rice

$601

Denise Clemens

$283

Leanne Czekaj

$50

Chastity Mendez

Camilla Triana

$102

Team Gifts

$557

Denotes a Team Captain

Team Progress

of Goal

$1,594 Raised

$1,000.00

Team Honor Roll

Will Foster

$300

Kevin & Stacey Rice

$257

Anonymous

$103

Cody

$101

Economy Auto Service

$100

Norma Sessler

$100

Fran Newton

$77

Jessica Rydingsward

$77

George Anderson

$77

Ellen Augusta

$51

Anonymous

$51

Denise Clemens

$51

Leanne Czekaj

$50

Jeremy Wade

$33

John Pynchon

Megan Stimpson

$31

Anna Gatz

$25

Kyle Payson

$25

Camilla Triana

$25

Tj Rice

$25

Top Donors

Will Foster

Kevin & Stacey Rice

Anonymous

Cody

Economy Auto Service

Full Donor List

Executives with Heart: A Movement Where Leadership Meets Lifesaving

2026 Maine Heart Walk

L.L. Bean Operators