ALAMOSA — The annual “Love Your Sweet Heart Health and Wellness Fair” will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Alamosa. Now in its 11th year, the 2024 event is shaping up to be one of the best and most dynamic health fairs yet with dozens of booths, free giveaways of baby items, incentives for going to all the booths, and even free oatmeal.
Thanks to the dedication and efforts of Amelia Quirco, a community health worker with SLV AHEC, professionals and everyday people from more than 30 different organizations will be volunteering their time on Saturday morning.
“Everybody is so busy these days. This health fair is really about people in the community donating their time to care for others in their community,” Quirco says. “It’s a wonderful thing.”
The number and diversity of groups that will be at the fair is an indication of just how much the community cares with booths offering information, screenings and connections to services ranging from — just to name a few — a medical spa to health supplies to Medicare to therapeutic massage. There will be free screenings for eyesight, hearing, cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure. There will be booths on physical therapy, physical exercise, and acupuncture to promote relaxation, well-being and treatment of addiction.
For the parents and caregivers of the youngest among us, there will be a distribution of free diapers (125 cases), free wipes (25 cases with 615 wipes in each), pull-ups and children’s books, all thanks to the generosity of SLV Early Childhood Council.
People who attend will be incentivized to take full advantage of the health fair with a Passport to Wellness. Adults who fill out their passport by visiting resource tables will obtain a boarding ticket for a chance to win prizes, such as a pot and pan set, DeWalt cordless drill, Keurig, and a wellness basket. Kids who complete their passport will all receive a prize.
And if that’s not enough, there will be activities for the kids plus a free “oatmeal bar” on-site with fresh oatmeal and a choice of toppings from brown sugar to different types of berries.
The bilingual fair was created to address the needs of individuals in the SLV who faced challenges in accessing mainstream health fairs due to timing, financial constraints, or language barriers.
Echoing Quiroc’s words, this is truly an event held for the community by the community with bilingual speakers, healthcare professionals, and friends and neighbors donating their Saturday morning to “make the world around us happier and healthier.”
“We do this once a year,” Quiroc says, “and this is a year nobody should miss.”
For those who want more information - there will be booths from Mi Salud Y Mi Familia; Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY); Early Childhood Council of the SLV; Revitalize Medical Spa; CSU SLV Area Extension Office; Costilla County Public Health Agency; Dylan Brown Agency for Medicare Help; Mountain Valley Medicare; A Better Hearing Center; San Luis Valley Therapeutic Massage; SLV Sports & Wellness; ASU Health Care Center; Rocky Mountain Home Health Supplies; AHEC Naloxone, peer services, SHARRP exchange schedules; Acorn Childcare;, Alamosa County Public Health Department; Children's Hospital Colorado; Mountain Valley Eye Care; Promotores del Valle with information and sign up for Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program; Alamosa Bicycle Coalition, SLV GO!; SLV RETAC and Alamosa County SLV RETAC; Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center; HCV testing; Colorado Health Solutions; SLV CO CEAL; SLV Behavior Health will provide free Acudetox, and Rio Grande Hospital will have a physical therapist present.
