Delaware Ave Seventh-day Adventist Church Free Health Expo a Success

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - June 30, 2014 - PRLog -- Over 60 people attended the First Annual Delaware Ave Seventh-day Adventist free community Health Expo that was held on Sunday, June 22, 2014 in the Fellowship Hall of Delaware Ave Seventh-day Adventist Church. The health expo was designed to raise awareness about health, healing and wholeness in the community of Santa Monica, California.

The groundbreaking event was a collaborative effort organized by the Health and Temperance department and its members of the Delaware Ave Church.  The Health Expo included free screenings for blood pressure, body fat, and blood sugar testing. Results of these screenings were immediately available and health care professionals were available to answer individual questions. Martha Condori, RN provided BMI readings, Sammy Baceera, MD and Matthew Colton, PA provided blood pressure readings, Michelle Graves, RN and Mae Averion, RN provided blood sugar testing. Onika Noel, PhD, Michelle St. Fleur, MD and Heidy Lara, MA, and Blanca Alcantar, RN assisted every station. Alison Dorsey, Vilma Villegas and Shane Aquino handled registration. Charis Michelson and Gino Isaac provided general and follow up resource materials to the community.  Eileen Brown, Dawn Hunter, and Valerie Alcantar served as greeters and Julissa Rocha was our interpreter for the Spanish speaking guests.

Individual booths provided one on one time discussing valuable health information on topics regarding “Dental Hygiene” by Lloyd Stoll, DDS (Dentist), “Women’s Health” by Melissa Grier, MD (OB GYN), “Mental health, alcohol and drug addiction” by Obie Hicks, MD (Psychiatrist), “Cancer prevention” by Fayth Miles, PhD (Cancer Research) and “Heart Health” and “Facts on Fat” by Schubert Palmer, MD (Cardiologist) and his wife Yolanda Palmer.

Scheduled health lectures were also presented throughout the day in the sanctuary. Dr. Schubert Palmer discussed the importance of exercising and eating healthy to maintain a healthy heart. Dr. Lloyd Stoll discussed the importance of proper dental hygiene and how to maintain a healthy smile. Dr. Melissa Grier discussed women’s health and the importance of getting screenings for uterine and cervical cancer. Dr. Obie Hicks discussed the signs of depression, alcohol and drug addiction.

There was also a healthy food demonstration that was given by Tiffany Jefferson who showed the community how to prepare Tomato Basil Pasta with a roasted cashew crème sauce and Japanese Vegetable Ramen. Heidy Lara answered questions about the benefits of juicing and demonstrated how to make an apple, beet, carrot and ginger juice.

Many amazing prizes were raffled off. Kiel Brown won the Fit Bit a device that tracks daily activity, calories burned, sleep and weight. Vincent Morales won a fruits and vegetables basket, Anita Edwards won a target card for $25 dollars and even the kids who attended and participated won great prizes like Eternity Reed who won $20 dollars, Essence Johnson won $10 dollars and Kaitlin Hunter won a cookbook and forks over knives DVD.  The grand prizewinner, Omari Jackson won a nutribullet.

Veronica Flowers was one of the participants who won a total of three gifts, donated groceries from Trader Joes valued at $50 dollars, forks over knives DVD, and an electric toothbrush. “This is a wonderful event, I am having a great time learning so much about how to maintain my health, eating healthy and the electric toothbrush that I won is something that I really needed,” said Veronica Flowers, a local resident. “It is also encouraging to see the church involved in the community and talking about real issues such as mental health.”

Event Chair Angela Settle said, “God truly blessed our Health Expo this past Sunday. We felt his presence and anointing throughout the day. All clinicians and volunteers were filled with His Spirit as we ministered to those precious souls through health education and direct services, thus meeting their needs in a practical way by showing God’s love and compassion.”

For more information, visit www.delawaresda.org or email HealthTeam@Delawaresda.org.