To help students across the region have a healthy school year, Malam Health Center welcomed all students to its annual Back to School Health Fest on Saturday, August 24. The parking lot outside Indiana University (IU) Northwest was filled with numerous vendors and booths sharing resources, testing, health information, appointment schedules and more to celebrate health and wellness during and beyond the school year.
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“Today we will be providing community information, resources and back to school supplies, including snacks, bikes, raffles, games and music for the children,” Community Outreach Manager Isa Lasenby said.
Malam has always been passionate about providing the resources children need to stay healthy all year round, and hosting Back to School Fest allows students of all ages to access these services that they might not otherwise have access to. It also allows students to take part in the many great events the fest has to offer.
“The benefit of the festival is that it gives the local community information about different programs and services that they might not otherwise know about,” Lasenby said.
In addition to a wealth of health and wellness resources, Back to School Fest also provides an opportunity for kids to spend a fun-filled afternoon with family and friends while browsing the booths and participating in fun activities throughout the event. Connecting with the community is the best part of the day for almost everyone, so the kids are excited to interact with so many people in their community.
“My favorite part is the bike raffle and seeing the kids get excited about who's going to win,” Lasenby said.
Marram wasn't alone in organising a festival that everyone could enjoy: many different organisations actively participated in this year's event, which the Marram team is very grateful for – without their help nothing would have been possible.
Another organization that has been instrumental in making the Back to School Festival a reality is IU Northwest. The festival has been held at the school for many years, and the school's partnership with Marram has played a key role in making the event a success each year.
“Every year they give us the facility for free, there's no charge. We use it every year for our back-to-school event and also for our trunk-or-treat in October,” Lasenby said.
This combined support will allow the essence of the event to fully shine through for all to see, building a healthy community while ensuring children have everything they need to make the most of the back to school year in mind and body.
“It means a lot to me to be able to provide resources and information to the community. There are a lot of programs and agencies that the community doesn't know about so I'm happy to be able to provide that information,” Lasenby said.
For more information about Marram Health Centre, visit marramhealth.org
