LAS VEGAS -- Children's Heart Foundation has just announced the winners of this year's Smart Heart Scholarships: Jasper Biggs of Pahrump and Jaclyn Acebo of Las Vegas.

Both young women will attend college in the fall and have overcome insurmountable odds to beat heart disease and achieve success academically as well.

To be eligible to receive one of the Smart Heart Scholarships, applicants must have attended a Nevada public or private high school, maintained a minimum 3.0 GPA, be attending a four-year college or university following graduation, and be a congenital heart disease patient seen by a pediatric cardiologist.

Scholarship recipient Biggs, who will be attending Biola University in Southern California this fall, was born with a congenital heart disease known as critical aortic stenosis.

At just eight days old Biggs underwent aortic valve repair, later open-heart surgery at 6 years old and again at 17.

She graduated this past spring with a 3.97 GPA and has already earned 31.5 college credits through her work at the College of Southern Nevada.

She is very active in her church community, having volunteered and taught Sunday school. Biggs also participated on the Pahrump Valley High School Golf Team for the past four years, on varsity the last three, and served as team captain this past season.

Award recipient Acebo underwent a heart transplant at age 10 and has overcome her heart disease to graduate this year with honors from Las Vegas Academy with a GPA of 4.39.

The mission of the Children's Heart Foundation is to improve the care and quality of life for children in Nevada who are born with or develop heart problems.

The foundation has four main goals: to provide a carefree camp experience for children with heart conditions; to educate healthcare professionals and the general public on pediatric cardiology issues; to lend support to families as they deal with the emotional and financial toll exacted by a child's heart problems; and to support research efforts in the field of pediatric cardiology.

Children's Heart Foundation was founded in 2001 through the compassionate efforts of local pediatric cardiologists and concerned families of children with heart problems

It is located at 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas NV 89109. For more information on Children's Heart Foundation, please call 702-967-3522 or visit www.chfn.org.