High schoolers are dialing to make a difference. They’re reaching out to their local legislators on behalf of the American Heart Association.

“We’ll ask them to help more schools have cardiac response plans," Simi Aviza-Hanrahan said. 

They’re part of the Association's Teens for Impact campaign supporting heart health in women.

“I’m hoping that it spreads awareness because I know that it can be a big issue for a lot of people, especially women,” Breslin Pettengill said. 

“American heart disease is the number one killer,” said Zoe Aviza-Hanrahan. 

Over nine weeks, five teens will participate in activities with the goal of creating a culture of wellness and equitable health and raising money through events.

“We want to do a fashion show at our school, but we’re going to raffle off some items we just got from a donation from Clearly Yours,” Aviza-Hanrahan said.

According to the American Heart Association, more than half of U.S. adults will have cardiovascular disease by 20 to 50 years old. For these participants, fighting heart disease is personal.

“Because of my father. He had [an] arrhythmia when I was about six, and it led him to die for about five minutes,” Aviza-Hanrahan said. 

“I chose to do this because my grandfather personally struggled with having heart disease, and it affected my family," Pettengill said. 

In the end, the teens hope all of their hard work makes a difference.

“I hope more people are aware of heart disease and are able to prevent it,” said Aviza-Hanrahan.

The Impact campaign ends on April 10.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been corrected to reflect correct spelling of the sources' names.