2013 Cesar Chavez Heatlh Fair a Success!

AmeriCorps members get in the spirit of health!

On Saturday, April 6, AmeriCorps members gathered early in the morning to prepare for the 13th Annual Cesar Chavez Health Fair. 70 AmeriCorps members serving with the CalSERVES programs were there to help families access help and resources for dental health and nutrition, and to help families have a good time.

Partnering with organizations in the community like First 5 Sonoma County, St. Joseph's Health Care System of Sonoma County, Kaiser Permanente, and many others, CalSERVES created a family event where kids could receive free dental exams, families could sample healthy recipes and learn about resources in the community, and kids could play and have a fun time with physical activities.

Over 500 people in the community came down to celebrate with us. And those amazing AmeriCorps members made a big project run smoothly. When AmeriCorps members come together, there isn't anything they can't get done!

Volunteer dentists provided free exams for kids.

2013 Cesar Chavez Health Fair

Join us at the Cesar Chavez Health Fair!
Saturday, April 6, 2013 10am - 2pm
Cook Middle School, 2480 Sebastopol Rd. in Santa Rosa 

It's Springtime, and at CalSERVES that means we're gearing up for the annual Cesar Chavez Health Fair. We've been hosting the Health Fair every year since 2000, and there is a lot of time and energy poured into this event by our dedicated staff and AmeriCorps members!

In 2000, California declared March 31st as Cesar Chavez Day, and AmeriCorps programs throughout the state were invited to create a day of service around this new holiday. Chavez was known for his championing of those that are under-served, and so the folks at CalSERVES decided one of the best ways to honor him would be to bring health services to those who needed it the most.

This year, our event is focused on Dental Health and Nutrition. Tooth decay is the #1 childhood disease, 4 times more common than asthma. And many children don't have insurance and access to dental care. With a partnership with St. Joseph's Health Care System of Sonoma County, our fair will provide screenings and treatments for children ages 0-18, including follow up care where needed.

In addition to vising the dentist, families at our fair can learn how nutrition plays a role in healthy teeth and healthy bodies, accessing information from organizations throughout the county.

All services are offered free of charge, and the event includes free samples of healthy snacks and drinks, fun and games for children, and much more!

Join us at the Fair!
Saturday, April 6, 2013 10am - 2pm
Cook Middle School, 2480 Sebastopol Rd. in Santa Rosa

For more information, please visit the CalSERVES website: www.calserves.org

A big THANK YOU to the sponsors of the Cesar Chavez Health Fair!
First 5 Sonoma County
St. Joseph's Health Care System of Sonoma County
Network for a Healthy California

by Emily Mann, Health Fair Coordinator

Cesar Chavez Health Fair a Success!

 

CalSERVES Cesar Chavez Health Fair 2012 is in the books as another success …and considering the rain!

Congratulations to all participants on a job well done! 

CalSERVES is privileged each year to provide free health services to the Santa Rosa community.  How successful was the impact of this years event?  Here are the numbers!

We had about 1,500 attendees

                            

60+ health care, education, and entertainment providers

Over 5,500 lbs. of fresh vegetables and food given to families

Over 110 free haircuts were given

          

Over 150 free bike helmets given

Over 100 free dental screenings

and over 50 free blood tests

Thanks to all of you that contributed! 

We couldn’t have done this without you!

2012 Cesar Chavez Health Fair

Tomorrow is our annual Cesar Chavez Health Fair. It will be amazing, so come on down and join us!

Meadow View Elementary School

2665 Dutton Meadow Ave, Santa Rosa, CA. 95407

Saturday, March 31, 2012 from 10am - 2pm

The day will be filled with entertainment, games and activities for the whole family, free food, and many services offered to the community free of charge. These services include:

• Free Dental Screenings for Children
• Blood Pressure Checks
• Blood Sugar Checks
• Cholesterol Screenings
• HIV Testing
• Personal Health Records
• Body Mass Index Screenings and Referrals
• Opportunities to ask Doctor's your Health Questions
• Over 5,000 pounds of free food donated by the Redwood Food Bank
• Free Healthy Snacks
• Free Hair Cuts 
• Over 60 organizations with information about services in the area
• Bike Rodeo for kids, including safety checks and helmets

An Important Lesson on Service and Success from Cesar Chavez

Art by Kathleen Chosa

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own. - Cesar Chavez




 Cesar Chavez was, among many things, an advocate for serving the needs of the whole community. After years of fighting personal injustice, Chavez made the resolute decision to represent those who needed representation. He chose to spend his life peacefully but fervently leading and serving those who had great needs.

Did you know that in his lifetime, Chavez never made more than $5,000 a year? (Good thing Chavez never defined success in financial terms!) He boldly declared in his actions that success meant making the world a better place – it didn’t mean financial prestige.

Chavez’s greatest achievement was his ability to lead a generation to passionately stand up to better their community. He couldn’t have achieved this without a great deal of personal sacrifice. He was blessed with talent, passion, and a deep sense of what’s right. Instead of using his gifts to get himself out of the poverty he knew, he used his gifts to lift others out of poverty. He sacrificed his time, his talents, and his aspirations to a greater good: the welfare of his community.

Who better to inspire us than a hero who gave years of his life to serve others? Do you aspire to his selflessness and his ability to encourage and strengthen his community? Everything we do in CalSERVES is aimed at just that: serving our community with the time, talent, and dedication of our staff, AmeriCorps members, and volunteers. Cesar Chavez’s legacy has taught us the important lesson that our actions can make all the difference in the well-being of our community.

Having oranges at the Cesar Chavez Health Fair

 If you are inspired by Chavez’s legacy, come give some of your time with us to celebrate on this Cesar Chavez Day. On March 31, we’ll be providing healthy food, entertainment, and medical/dental screenings to the community from 10 am – 2 pm at Meadow View Elementary School as a part of our Cesar Chavez Health Fair. If you are interested in volunteering, contact CalSERVES Volunteer Infrastructure Project Fellow Patrick Link at (707) 225-7458.

by Lauren Serpa, CalSERVES VIP Project Coordinator

2011 Cesar Chavez Health Fair Report

Healthy Eating and Active Living

'This is a great event and I hope to be able to take part in it for many years to come!” 

Silvia Floriano, Health Fair Participant

The 2011 Cesar Chávez Day Health Fair at Roseland Elementary School drew over 3,300 attendees and 63 participating community organizations.

Health Fair Highlights

• Dental Screenings: St. Joseph’s Medical Center screened 104 children for tooth decay, finding 31 children who needed dental care and 6 of those children presenting urgent dental needs.
• Vaccines: Sonoma County Public Health provided Tdap (Whooping Cough) vaccines to 219 children, ages 10-18, as well as to 89 adults.
• Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, and Cholesterol Screening: St. Joseph’s Medical Center provided blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol screenings to 59 individuals, issuing 50 referrals for follow up care.
• Asthma Screenings: Community Action Partnership provided 15 Asthma screenings.
• BMI Testing: Nursing students from Sonoma State University provided 17 Body Mass Index (BMI) screenings for families.
• Free Healthy Foods: The Redwood Empire Food Bank donated over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce and free healthy snacks were also served.
• Free Bike Helmets and Repairs: Safe Routes to School and AmeriCorps volunteers fitted 160 donated bicycle helmets, and NorCal Cycling repaired 125 bikes at the Health Fair.
• Free Hair Cuts: More than 80 hair cuts were provided by community volunteers.

 Active Living

• Kaiser Permanente’s Community Theater Troupe led the Kids Course, an interactive obstacle
• course for kids that helps make fitness fun.
• Boy Scouts of America provided a Rock wall that had the whole community up and climbing!
• Obstacle Course Playhouse and other fun games encouraged children to stay active and have fun.

Local Representatives in Attendance

• Efren Carrillo, Supervisor, County of Sonoma
• Ernesto Olivares, Mayor of Santa Rosa
• Susan Gorin, Santa Rosa City Council

 Entertainment

• Windsor Bloco provided dancing and drumming.
• Aztec Dance Troupe performed traditional dances.
• Face-painting, magic shows, and balloon animals delighted fair attendees.

AmeriCorps

121 AmeriCorps members from the CalSERVES program, West County Community Services, and the North Bay Conservation Corps came to support this event. AmeriCorps members led activities for children, served as support to the health care providers and as translators for families.

Sponsors, Donors and Volunteers
The Fair organizer is CalSERVES, an educational program based at the Napa County Office of Education. Primary sponsors of the 2011 Health Fair include First 5 Sonoma County, Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph’s Health System, Redwood Credit Union, and Community Action Partnership. Additional Fair sponsors included Redwood Empire Food Bank, Safe Routes to School, NorCal Cycling, Santa Rosa Police Department, Roseland Elementary School, Radio Lazer, La Fondita Restaurant, and Clover Stornetta. Many businesses and agencies in the community came together to support the event, including 25 community organizations that donated goods and services worth over $6,000. Over 452 health providers, community volunteers, and AmeriCorps members provided 2,159 volunteer hours in support of the event.

Cesar Chavez Day 2011

Frances Hardie, CalSERVES AmeriCorps VIP Leader 

Community Members receive fresh produce at the Health Fair.

 Spring means just one thing at CalSERVES: Cesar Chavez Day! Our annual health fair at Roseland Elementary is the largest event we hold each year; it requires an enormous amount of effort from all staff, AmeriCorps members, and volunteers. Fortunately, we had tons of great support from our long-term volunteers, former members, and new volunteers!

Brittany and Phil, two previous members, volunteered their services and pick-up truck to help us move an enormous mountain of donated clothing from the office. Our VIPs collected more clothing than we ever could have imagined receiving, and we had no idea how to get it all to Roseland! Fortunately, our great alumni came through in a pinch.

Kids learn bike safety at the Bike Rodeo.

On the day of the fair, we had 15 volunteers helping with everything from the bike rodeo to the farmers market to the clothing drive. Also, our VIPs recruited four stylists to provide free haircuts – over 75 people got their hair cut at Cesar Chavez Day. And, last but not least, Gabby O’Neill from Wright brought a magician to volunteer in the kids’ area and graciously submitted to being hypnotized every hour!

After the fair, everyone was exhausted from a long day of work, but we still had to pack up all of the equipment. Two eighth graders from Wright jumped in and ran around breaking down and moving tables and chairs until everything was packed. Even our students like to volunteer!

Thank you to all of our VIPs and their great recruiting efforts for making Cesar Chavez 2011 such a success.

Students Protest about Snack Choices

Mentors at the Wright Charter After School Program taught their students about work of Cesar Chavez by staging a mock protest. 1st and 2nd grade students made signs and marched around the campus declaring that they deserved the right to choose their own snacks.

"We don't choose your snack!" and  "Let us choose!" were a few of the signs. Everyone who participated had a good time, and learned the value of standing up in defense of human rights.

¡Si se puede!

Pictures of this event were taken by Jena Rufalow, AmeriCorps Team Leader and can be viewed here:
Picasa Album

2010 Cesar Chavez Health Fair Report

The 2010 Cesar Chávez Day Health Fair at Roseland Elementary School drew over 3,500 attendees and 74 participating community organizations.

Health Fair Highlights

• Dental Screenings: St. Joseph’s Medical Center screened 123 children for tooth decay, finding 54 children who needed dental care and 11 of those children presenting urgent dental needs.
• H1N1 Vaccines: Sonoma County Public Health provided 212 H1N1 vaccinations
• Blood Pressure/Blood Glucose Screening: St. Joseph’s provided blood pressure and diabetes screening to 36 individuals.
• Vision Checkups: Community Action Partnership provided 92 vision screenings.
• Free Healthy Foods: The Redwood Empire Food Bank donated over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce and 1,725 free healthy lunches were also served.
• Free Bike Helmets and Repairs: AmeriCorps volunteers fitted 100 donated bicycle helmets and NorCal Cycling repaired over 100 bikes at the Health Fair.
• Free Hair Cuts: More than 50 hair cuts were provided by community volunteers.
• Free Books: The Sonoma County Free Bookmobile gave out over 250 free books to children and adults.

Active Living

• Zumba U-Jam—an aerobic activity that combines Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a fun workout.
• Kaiser Permanente’s Community Theater Troupe Kids Course – a fun obstacle course for kids that helps make fitness fun.
• Rock-climbing wall and Obstacle Course Playhouse—for children to stay active and have fun.
• Project T.R.U.E.—peer educators from Roseland University Prep who focus on drug and alcohol prevention.

Notable Speakers

• Efren Carrillo, Supervisor, County of Sonoma
• Dr. Mary Maddux-Gonzalez, Public Health Director, County of Sonoma
• Dana Pedersen, Principal, Roseland Elementary School

Entertainment

• Windsor Bloco provided dancing and drumming.
• La Maquina 107.5 FM hosted the event and provided great music.
• Face-painting, magic shows, and balloon animals delighted fair-goers.

AmeriCorps

110 AmeriCorps members from the CalSERVES program came to support this event. AmeriCorps members led activities for children, served as support to the health care providers and as translators for families.

Sponsors, Donors & Volunteers

The Fair organizer is CalSERVES with vital partner Roseland Elementary School District. Primary sponsors of the 2010 Health Fair include First 5 Sonoma County, Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph’s Health System, Redwood Credit Union, and Community Action Partnership. Additional Fair sponsors included Redwood Empire Food Bank, Santa Rosa Police Department, La Fondita Restaurant, La Texicana Restaurant, Taqueria Santa Rosa, Clover Stornetta, La Tortilla Factory, NorCal Bike Sport, and Radio Stations La Maquina and Radio Lazer.Many businesses and agencies in the community came together to support the event, including 25 community organizations that donated goods and services worth over $6,250. Over 283 health providers, community volunteers, and AmeriCorps members provided 2,753 volunteer hours in support of the event.

Thanks again to all who participated!

Volunteer passes out broccoli to Health Fair attendee.

Kids enjoyed the rock climbing wall.

Many information booths gave hep to fair goers.

Free haircuts from community volunteers was very popular!

Fair goers sampled many fruits and vegetables.

Children worked with AmeriCorps members to plant their own vegetable seeds.

10th Annual Health Fair

 Emily Mann, Cesar Chavez Health Fair Committee

It's March, and that means CalSERVES is gearing up for our Annual Cesar Chavez Health Fair. This year, we will be celebrating our 10th Fair! We've been doing this awhile. Come join in the fun:

Cesar Chavez Health Fair

Saturday, March 20th 10am- 2pm

Roseland Elementary School

Focused on health, this community event is a place for families to learn about and access resources for health, safety, and education. Organizations all over the county come to celebrate with us and participate in providing this event. Sponsors for this year's fair include: First 5 of Sonoma County, Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph's Health System, Redwood Credit Union, and Community Action Partnership. THANK YOU!

In 2010, we will be celebrating with:

FREE health screenings - Dental for kids, vision, blood pressure, blood glucose, H1N1 vaccinations, and more! 

Free FOOD for families - donated by the Redwood Empire Food Bank, families will be able to take home bags of fresh produce. Also, everyone attending the fair will recieve a free, healthy lunch!

 

A BIKE RODEO for kids, put on by the Santa Rosa Police Department! Children 14 and under can bring their bikes and participate in free tune ups, safety info, and a practice course. There will also be prizes for kids who wear their helmets!

  

AWESOME Entertainment! Windsor Bloco will be performing with their high energy and crowd-pleasing routines. We will have Zumba for everyone to participate in, and speakers from the community will be addressing issues of community and health.

 

 

FUN activities for kids! Kaiser's Kids Course, a rock climbing wall, tons of games, face painting, balloons, and even a magician are on the FUN menu! 

 

 

FREE information and support for families, offered by many community-based organizations. 

 

Come to the Fair - we'll see you there! If you are interested in participating as a provider, please visit our website to download the application and learn more. www.calserves.org/events/chavez.html

Cesar Chavez Health Fair!

Emily Mann, Cesar Chavez Health Fair Organizer

Girls attending the fair try some oranges!

The Cesar Chavez Health Fair is this week! So much is happening as we prepare for this fantastic community event. CalSERVES students are busy with service learning and making flowers for decorations; their mentors are preparing to run tables, do face paintings and make balloon animals, run a bike rodeo and soccer games, and man the bounce house and rock climbing wall. Staff are coordinating a healthy lunch for everyone who attends, pulling over 80 community partners in to participate in the event, rounding up speakers and entertainers, and making sure everything comes together.

Even the weather is cooperating - it's supposed to be SUNNY ALL WEEK!

We are all excited and hopeful that this will be the best Cesar Chavez Health Fair ever! We invite all to come and have a good time. To learn more about this year's event, visit our website: www.calserves.org/events/chavez.html

Event Details:
Saturday, March 14th from 10am-2pm
Roseland Elementary School
950 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa CA
This event is FREE to the community!

The Cesar Chavez Health Fair is generously sponsored by:
Kaiser Permanente, First 5 of Sonoma County, Network for a Healthy California, County of Sonoma Department of Health Services, St. Joseph's Health System of Sonoma County, Redwood Credit Union, Community Action Partnership, Taqueria Santa Rosa, and many more!