MCCTC Health Fair Promotes Safety and Wellness

CANFIELD, Ohio – The Mahoning County Career & Technical Center held its second annual Health and Safety Fair today to showcase various organizations and provide activities for the community to participate in.

The fair is meant to promote safety and wellness to the community in a fun, festive-like environment. It is also meant to connect students with the community and organizations that coincide with various training programs that MCCTC offers.

Some of these programs include Firefighter I, Firefighter II, EMT, as well as partnerships with university hospitals to have paramedic programs, customized training for STNAs, a full-time medical assistance program and medical office program.

“We want to have something fun for the community to do,” said Jodi Glass, recruiting and marketing coordinator at MCCTC. “[The community] can do anything from get their blood pressure taken to a scavenger hunt with lots of fun stuff.”

This year the fair had an “explore a vehicle” activity featuring firetrucks, police cruisers, electric vehicles, a pop-up library mobile van and some food trucks.

There were also therapy bunnies, Eggnog and Miss Adorable, to help relieve stress and regulate blood pressure. An MCCTC student dressed up as the Disney character Snow White for a fun photo opportunity for the young children in attendance.

“We’ve been saying, ‘Anything from blood pressure to bunnies,’ because people can get blood pressure readings done. They can get a dental check up. They can get a hearing check up,” Glass said.

Vendors such as Mercy Health, Shepherd of the Valley, Octapharma Plasma offered a variety of free goodies and resources.

“A lot of these vendors have a great message to share. They have a lot of health and safety services available to the community,” Glass said.

The Kikel Mobile Dental Clinic was present at the event and offered free oral screenings to the community, and then provided information and resources for oral health.

“Dental affects your whole medical makeup. So if you have something … and you have bad teeth or need dental work, this can help you get what you need,” said Stephanie Gay, practice manager of Mercy Health Physicians in Youngstown and the Dental Clinic Mobile Van.

Corban Baker, outreach coordinator for the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, provided information on available health and education resources for veterans.

“We help [veterans] navigate their benefits on the federal, state and local – or Mahoning County – level,” Baker said. “Personally, when I got out of the U.S. Marine Corps 15 years ago, I had no idea what was out there available for me. So it’s important we get the word out there.”

Glass said the idea for the health and safety fair was inspired after the COVID-19 protocols were lifted.

“We wanted to bring everyone back together. We feel like we are the heart of the community. We did it last year, and everyone seemed to enjoy it, so we brought it back.”

Pictured at top: Corban Baker, outreach coordinator for the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, provided information at the event.

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