Senior Health Fair in Oakley March 7

Seniors are invited to attend a Free Senior Health Fair, where more than 50 agencies will be on hand at the Oakley City Hall offices Saturday, March 7. The event, which is sponsored by the East Contra Costa County Senior Coalition, will be open to all seniors who need help with a variety of issues.
"This event keeps growing, year after year," said event organizer Harriett Zych. Zych is a senior who lives in Oakley and has been very active with the CCC Senior Coalition since 2000.
"We're very lucky to have Oakley donate the use of their city hall for this event. The size of the building will allow us to service more people," she said.
The event will feature several groups and organizations, including some county departments and help from John Muir Medical Center and Sutter Delta Hospital. The health fair focuses on screenings that can identify risk factors that are known to lead to other health issues.
The Senior Coalition believes that the prevention is the key to staying healthy, but unfortunately a lot of times seniors have difficulties either getting to doctors' offices or paying for the service.
"They do the screenings at absolutely no cost to the seniors," Zych said.
One of the primary goals of the event is to promote health awareness and education. The screenings that will be provided glucose, cholesterol, bone density and blood pressure. Additionally, senior agencies will be onsite to provide information about resources available to the senior community.
Realizing that the seniors may have a hard time getting to the City Hall for the fair, organizers have worked in conjunction with the city of Oakley to offer pickup at several different locations in Oakley. The pickup points will be The Commons apartment complex, Eagle City Mobile Home Park, Summer Creek Senior Apartments, the HUD apartments on Rosemary Lane and Golden Oaks Senior Apartments.
"Hopefully this will give a chance for people who normally can't come to these types of events to come and get the help and services they need," Zych said.
The East County Senior Coalition has been helping seniors since November of 1999. Their primary goal is to bring organizations and people together to make sure that seniors have all the services available to them. The group is funded by the county, although like many other county organizations, they are concerned about their budget being cut. Until then, Zych said they would do whatever they can to help the seniors. She also said that the group is always looking for volunteers who want to get involved. They do not have to be involved with an organization or even be a senior, just someone who wishes to help the senior community.
Spaces are still available for organizations to come and hand out information that will benefit seniors. Call the Senior Coalition to sign up for the event. The event will take place March 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oakley City Hall is located at 3231 Main Street. For more information on the free Senior Health Fair, contact the coalition at 925-978-2754.