The 12th Annual Health Fair hosted by Pan de Vida, providing free medical and dental services to families, is coming to Queen Creek this Saturday, Nov. 5.
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the fair will provide services such as pregnancy screenings, breathing assessments, dental services, flu shots and much more from various healthcare providers free of charge. The event will focus on health and wellness with a DIY garden center and diabetes education lessons in English and Spanish.
“This (health fair) is for everybody who is low income or underserved. We don’t want to discriminate against anybody who can’t afford medical services,” said Mary Gloria, founder of Pan de Vida.
Quitting her job as the director at a senior center, Gloria founded Pan de Vida in 2003 to serve the needs she saw in the community.
“I felt that I could start a program based on what I had already done in other places,” she said. “We were very happy because we were helped by the community and other non-profit organizations, there weren’t too many other non-profits at the time.”
People would often come to Gloria asking for places to go for medical help, prompting her son to ask her why she didn’t start a health fair. From there, the annual health fair took off. Last year, the fair had a record number of women getting mammograms, Gloria said.
“(That record) let us know that there was a huge need for services for women who didn’t have insurance in the area,” said Kelly Gloria, health fair project manager.
This year, the event includes medical screenings, medical services and vendors, such as Molina Healthcare, who will offer assistance with Medicare. The fair will be focused more on medical services, rather than medical services and entertainment like past years.
“These days, with the market and COVID-19, there’s a lot of new families who are suffering and are in a tight situation,” Kelly Gloria added.
Pan de Vida is even planning a community center for Queen Creek due to the amount of people in need.
“When you help someone it doesn’t feel like you’ve been cheated. It feels like, ‘Wow, I was able to make this family or child have a better life,’” Mary Gloria said.
The event will be at the Queen Creek Library, 21802 S. Ellsworth Road, and is sponsored by SRP, the Town of Queen Creek and multiple other organizations and is free to attend. Pan de Vida is seeking volunteers to assist with set-up, handing out water bottles and more. To learn more about the event or to volunteer, visit pandevida.tv.
