Free health fair thrills participants

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

DICKSON

Those waiting outside for the bi-monthly UCHRA commodities giveaway yesterday morning at Northside Baptist Church were in for a treat. In addition to food staples, they were also treated to a health fair, held in the warm indoors, which provided them breakfast, a variety of activities and free gifts.

Called Warmth in Winter, the event was sponsored by a number of local organizations including Warren County Schools Health Services Department.

Lequita Dickson, the school system’s abstinence education program coordinator and one of yesterday’s organizers, said volunteers felt the commodities giveaway would be the perfect opportunity for a health fair.

“We wanted to help out the community and give more to those who go without,” she said. “Normally these people would have to stand outside all morning to get their food, but today we gave them a way to get out of the cold, learn valuable information and let them earn additional stuff.”

The word earn was right. To receive such additional items as laundry detergent, socks, gloves, toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning products, participants first had to visit different stations. At these stations they learned tobacco awareness, the virtues of abstinence, nutrition, the benefits of exercise, about the GED program and received blood pressure checks.

Event organizers said it’s often difficult to get people to attend a health fair, but yesterday’s was a rousing success. Helping make this possible, noted Northside Baptist youth minister Matt Jackson, was the fact organizers, because of the food giveaway, had a captive audience.

But that’s not to say that participants minded.

“It was fantastic,” said Cynthia Green, who was in attendance Monday morning. “I wish they would do this every time. It was very sweet of them.”

In addition to helping and informing participants, Warmth in Winter organizers are hopeful the day will help many more who did not attend, particularly young people. “One way to teach children is to teach their parents and grandparents,” said Lesa Duvall, the school system’s health services director.

Northside Baptist, which hosted yesterday’s Warmth in Winter, will further attempt to nourish both bodies and souls next month. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 it will hold its free monthly community dinner, followed by its contemporary worship service. Everyone is invited.