Healthier Lyon County’s Interactive HealthFest returned to the Flinthills Mall for the sixth year on Saturday morning after a three-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dozens of visitors to the health fair participated in interactive activities, giveaways, demonstrations, games, prizes, food and drinks and more at each of the 49 booths manned by over 30 vendors.
“We haven’t been able to have the HealthFest in person since 2019 so a lot of things have changed since that time,” Healthier Lyon County Grant Manager Daphne Mertens said. “We are pleasantly surprised by how many people we have seen come out today. Lots of families, people of all ages out to see the exciting things happening at Flinthills Mall.”
Mertens said HealthFest serves an important purpose in the community, providing community members with a plethora of health resources all in one area.
“Healthier Lyon County has a really large coalition and that is most of our community nonprofits, businesses, community-based organizations,” Mertens said. “Our goal is really just to connect people in our community with the resources that are already available. This is just a great opportunity for them to come out, see what’s available, see what might fit some of the needs they have healthwise in the community and really get connected with those resources.”
CrossWinds Development Support Specialist Stephanie Anderson was helping local youth make kindness rocks beside the CrossWinds Counseling and Wellness booth.
“It’s just a great activity to express art in a healthy way. You can put kindness rocks anywhere you want and share the kindness with others,” Anderson explained. “ … It’s just a really great way to get kids interested and open their eyes that even painting on a rock can be good for your mental health.”
Sitting in the center of the fair was a circle of booths manned by Jennifer Thomas’s Emporia State University health and human performance majors. The students have been preparing for the health fair since the second week of classes.
“This is part of my Worksite Health and Productivity Management class and it’s just all about how to interact with diverse populations, all ages, all backgrounds, and they just need to gain experience educating people,” Thomas, an associate professor of health, physical education and recreation, said. “Not in your typical classroom setting, where we think of education, but just that one-on-one interaction where people can ask questions.”
Visitors to the ESU student’s booths were able to view, take home and win prizes related to healthy eating and living.
“It just lets people know what some healthy options are available, especially locally,” Thomas said. “We tell them where they can get them, why they are good for them, how to do certain things if it’s exercise, and hopefully that can take that home with them.”
