Kaitlyn Deck, 1 1/2, daughter of Lisa Deck, one of the Circle of Red Speakers at the Love Your Heart Luncheon, enjoys the event.

Some 300 guests clad in red, mostly women, considered matters of the heart on Valentine’s Day.

It was part of the Love Your Heart Luncheon of Southern New England at the Johnson & Wales Inn in Seekonk.

They heard medical experts talk about women and heart disease. They were told of risk factors, symptoms and prevention. They also heard from heart-disease survivors, including Tracey Kennedy, former spokeswoman for Verizon Communications Inc., Michaela Gagne, Miss Massachusetts 2006, and Lisa Deck, a North Attleboro resident who, at 21, suffered a heart attack.They each recalled their harrowing experiences and offered cautionary tales, suggesting to guests that they pay attention to their bodies.

Members of the late Susan Chace Anderson’s family joined the heart-disease survivors at the podium. They were recognized for creating the Susan Chace Anderson Foundation. Last year, they donated $5,000 to the Heart Association. Anderson of Fall River died of a heart attack in 2006 when she was 46.

Also during the luncheon, an executive chef from Johnson & Wales University stood in front of the audience at a makeshift kitchen and cooked up a heart-healthy meal. He supplied cooking tips and recipe ideas as he whipped up a salad of chilled scallops and baby greens, and a main course of herb-seared chicken with red pepper couscous. Dessert was berries with dark chocolate in a meringue nest.

The luncheon, a fundraiser for the American Heart Association, brought in $80,000. Mary Lynn Lenz, president and CEO of Slades Bank, and Lisa Churchville, president and general manager of Channel 10, co-chaired the event.

“I could do a luncheon like this every day,” said Lenz. “It certainly is a stress reliever, and that’s helpful for the heart.”

Churchville added, “This luncheon is offering information that is life-saving. It’s a life-saving mission.”

“The purpose of today is to give lots of advice that you will take to heart,” noted Linda A. Bodenmann, executive vice president and CEO of Southcoast Health System, which owns Fall River’s Charlton Memorial Hospital and St. Luke’s in New Bedford. “All of us here are passionate about wiping out heart disease.”

Long-time Heart Association supporter Tricia Tasca attended the luncheon with her niece, Jaime Tasca. Tricia’s father Bob Tasca Sr. (and Jaime’s grandfather) founded the car dealerships Tasca Automotive Group. Tricia said, “Our family has been touched by heart disease. My father and brother (Bob Tasca Jr.) have had heart surgery.”

“I remember how tough it was for my family. We all rallied around my father (Bob Tasca Jr.) and my grandfather (Tasca Sr.),” said Jaime Tasca. “So, we are all aware of prevention, and we are here to learn as much as we can.”

Tote-bag designer Andrea Valentini and her mother, artist Mary Bucci, said that they liked the luncheon’s atmosphere. Valentini added, “It’s women bonding.”

Valentini said she wanted to be a part of the luncheon as a show of support for the heart association and because of “my last name and its connection to Valentine’s Day and the color red.”