A Prescription For The Entire Family
26th Annual Health Expo At First Baptist Church of Glenarden Served 2,000 While Focused On Family Wellness – And Fun
Story And Photos By Raoul Dennis. Click here for photos.
The idea is to avoid going to the emergency room. The goal is to increase quality of life--- even save lives if possible.
From the perspective of the leadership at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, it’s important to go beyond spiritual wellbeing and to aid church members and the community with physical and mental health as well. For over twenty years, the church’s health expo has been a centerpiece in the community.
It works. Nearly 100 health care providers, screeners, professionals and vendors descended upon the church’s 160 acres/205,000 square feet, two-story Worship Center Aug. 24 to provide services and information for nearly 2,000 residents and guests to the 26th Annual Health Expo at First Baptist.
Co-Chair of the FBCG Health Ministry BK Morris (left) embraces a member of the team.
The venue was designed like a Six Flags theme park for health: it included targeted special areas for specific audiences, such as a “Senior Cove,” “Man Cave,” “Healthy Children’s Club,” and “Teen Scene.” There were kid zones and games for the youngsters as well as fun-oriented health care learning for youth. Also, there were aerobic dance and other cardio-centered workouts. Outside, the expo included family friendly games, food, health information and more given by over 50 vendors on hand.
“It’s a relatively large event servicing the community. We try to afford people multiple screenings, multiple exhibits and our focus is on education and well-being,” says BK Morris, co-chair of the health ministry that organized the event at FBCG. He has been in nursing for 32 years and has been a leader in the health ministry for 42 years. “Every room, every space is occupied,” he said of the 44 rooms at the Worship Center.
Indeed it was. Health care heavyweights included Doctors Community Hospital/Community Partners, Howard University College of Dentistry and The University of Maryland Capital Region Health. There were health providers for mental health, substance abuse, cancer education, diabetes education, domestic violence, CPR, eye/ocular health, hearing, speech and foot care, heart/blood and cardiovascular health and colorectal education. There was no aspect of family health that was not addressed.
Alita Gaskill brought her family to the expo.
“Our focus this year was in trying to promote families and to get families to come out collectively,” Morris says of this year’s theme. “Not just the male that may be targeted for prostate cancer but heart disease is a big deal among women. So collectively we are inspiring family members to promote one another to a better well-being and state of health.”
The Gaskills are an Accokeek-based family who were among the hundreds who took advantage of the opportunities at the expo.
“We have the opportunity to get [early] medical checks that we [would ordinarily have to wait to get an appointment with our own doctor] to get,” says Alita Gaskill. “This has been a tremendous experience and I got some great information that will help me. This is an awesome church. I recommend anyone to just come in the door and you won’t want to leave.”
County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks brought leadership presence and spotlight attention to the expo. Alsobrooks, who is also a member of FBCG, is a strong advocate for proactive health awareness and care in the county.
Although the day was a success, county and health leaders seek to remain proactive.
“We are status quo in Prince George’s,” says Morris of the county’s overall health issues and trends as compared to the rest of the nation. “But it’s important for us as health care advocates to continue our program to promote people to first, get a yearly exam. From that point, exercise and compliance with medication administration and then have follow up exams to evaluate where you are in your health care process.”
“The expo is here to stay,” Morris says of the future of the expo. “As long as we can be productive and attract people to educate and evaluate them. And we are blessed that Pastor Jenkins is proactive in helping to promote our health status not only in the congregation but also in the community. Pastor also supports us going forward with teaching and training for everyone.”
