OPINION
I can't say thank you enough.
About a year ago, Maria Jones of the Denton Freedom House approached PPISD board President Renee Polk and me about helping her organize a health fair.
We tried for three different dates, and it seems like the third one was the charm.
During the planning process, we added Wendy Adkins with the city of Pilot Point to the mix, and I'm so glad we did.
Each one of us was nervous, right down to the morning of the event when we walked in and saw nearly all of the sponsorship banners had fallen to the floor overnight.
As vendors rolled in, we started getting more excited.
We had wonderful input from the start from our vendors, especially the experienced staff at the Denton County tables, that helped us make the experience better for them and the attendees alike.
As we opened our doors, we were still nervous about how many people would take us up on the invitation to 'Be checked and get well.'
We were so happy with the outcome.
Of the almost 40 vendor tables and around 100 community members who turned out, we had 58 people take advantage of the free blood tests to check cholesterol numbers and blood glucose averages. I was No. 40 of those 58. There were also 18 prostatespecifi c antigen tests done that day. There were 41 people who got their blood pressure checked, and I was one of those, too.
We also had 14 people who took Texas Health Resources up on their offer of free mammograms in the bus outside, and others stepped into the Carter BloodCare bus to help save lives in the form of 10 units of blood, including six first-time donors.
Our community, the sponsors who invested in our community by helping make this possible, not to mention Maria, Renee and Wendy as well as our dedicated volunteers, made Saturday a wonderful experience.
I'm so grateful we have a baseline for this event moving forward, and just as I hope it helps improve the health of our community, I hope this event gets stronger and healthier every year.
