Community Health Fair Provides Free Medical Screenings

BY: GAIANEH AVANESSIAN

GLENDALE — St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church was the site of the Armenian Youth Federation’s Community Health Fair this past Saturday. With over a dozenbooths offering a range of free medical services from vision exams to immunizations, the Health Fair provided crucial medical support for community members.

The health fair was organized by the AYF’s Nidus Central Council after months of strategic planning with local health organizations and individual doctors. Representatives from Planned Parenthood and the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry along with volunteer physicians and pediatricians were on-site to offer health consultations to all attendees.

“Health is so vital and it alters everyday life and that’s why I encourage people to take their health into their own hands,” said Dr. Karineh Aboulian. “The primary goal is to help people and who better to help than those you live amongst.”

Participants of the health fair were encouraged to visit the various booths and gainvaluable health and wellness information. Community members young and old took advantage of the free health screenings for blood pressure, hearing, blood glucose, scoliosis and had their general check-up.

“We held this health fair to help educate the community about their own health. We hope to encourage the notion of preventative health care and especially help the uninsured access the proper medical services they need,” said AYF member and organizer of the Health Fair, Sanan Haroun. “Being healthy should come first.”

Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian American youth organization in the United States, working to advance thesocial, political, educational and cultural awareness of Armenian-American youth.