Every year in August, community health centers celebrate National Health Center Week – this year from Sunday, Aug. 9 through Saturday, Aug. 15 with the theme of “Celebrating Our Legacy, Shaping Our Future.” Westside Family Health Center (WFHC), a community health center in Santa Monica, will celebrate with a free, community-wide Health Fair on Tuesday, Aug. 11 from 10 am to 3 pm, in WFHC’s parking lot at 1711 Ocean Park Boulevard in Santa Monica.
The Health Fair will offer fun games while providing relevant health education information. Activities will include healthy eating habit games and tutorials – complete with portion sizes in the form of flexible food models for the kids – nutrition lessons, body mass index (BMI) testing, Covered California information and enrollment help, information on WFHC services and programs, face painting, a photo booth, balloon animals, and more. WFHC will also provide healthy snacks and drinks to demonstrate alternatives to sugary or high calorie options and children have the chance to win prizes, such as backpacks with supplies.
Health centers nationwide provide “affordable, high quality, cost effective health care to medically vulnerable and underserved people” according to the National Association of Community Health Centers. “Without community health centers, some of our community’s most vulnerable would have nowhere else to go for their health care and health education,” said Debra A. Farmer, President/Chief Executive Officer of WFHC. “WFHC’s annual Health Fair is an extension of that – it is a fun way to make the community healthier and happier,” she continued.
This year WFHC’s goal is to increase fair attendance from the surrounding community. Please join WFHC on August 11 and be sure to bring the family.
The health fair will be located at 1711 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica. To learn more about the WFHC visit www.wfhcenter.org.
