The fifth annual Community Health and Wellness Fair Saturday at the Riceboro Youth Center provided information, health screenings, weight-loss products and exercise activities for everyone interested.
Organized by Project Reach GANG, its leader Lavonia LeCounte said, “We know that not everyone has health insurance, and even if they do, we have a wealth of information here. We want to inform people on how to take care of their bodies, eat right, exercise, their weight and dental health.”
Booths represented a range of health topics: Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a massage clinic, hospice, Helen’s Haven Children’s Advocacy Center, Georgia Forestry Commission’s fire prevention, health insurance for children and families, organ donor registration, Liberty County Head Start, Ardyss K. Bell products, nutritional drinks, chiropractic care, Tumblebus and more.
Representatives of the Liberty County Health Department BRAVE III Project discussed its free mammogram examination services, and conducted HIV tests. Liberty Regional EMS personnel checked individuals’ blood pressure and discussed contributing factors to high blood pressure. SNF Holding Co., a sponsor of the event, provided free eye exams. After which, they evaluated the results and recommended further eye checks.
Vonzell Varnedoe, dietician and nutrition consultant at Fort Stewart, talked about the importance of having color in one’s diet.
“Fruits and vegetables provide the color in our meals. Green vegetables prevent blindness, orange helps with night vision, white food like onions and garlic help with your immune, yellow also helps with immune, red is for heart health and blue-purple is for memory and brain function,” she said. “Those colors are antioxidants. They go into your bloodstream and wherever the blood goes, it stains your body’s cells to protect it. So any kind of diseases or germs that enter your body, your cells are protected.”
Varnedoe also displayed a prop of what five pounds of fat looks like and test tubes that demonstrate how much sugar certain foods and snacks contain.
There were door prizes, music, jump ropes, Hula Hoops, beach balls and exercise games for adults and children.
Project Reach God’s Anointed Now Generation, a non-profit youth outreach program, has been in Liberty County for 17 years. Ebonie Frazier has been a part of the organization since it started, at age 10.
“It’s always been my passion to be a part of anything related to the youth and young adults,” Frazier said. “Our motto is, ‘An unfulfilled life is a wasted life.’ So this is where I discovered my purpose. Being a part of the health fair, I believe we’re giving back.”