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ASIAN COMMUNITY GROUPS UNITE TO HOST FIRST “OFFER A HAND” HEALTH FAIR

OfferAHand_2_bOn Sunday, June 3rd, 2012, a group of over 60 volunteers gathered at the Vietnamese Civic Center on 11360 Bellaire Blvd, Ste. 900, Houston, TX 77072 to host the first ever “Offer A Hand” Health Fair.  The purpose of the event was to offer free dental, eye, pharmaceutical and medical screenings to the Asian communities.  This is the largest event of its kind in Houston and involved the collaboration of 3 prominent Asian civic groups:  the Lions Club, Vietnamese Chapter (led by Mrs. Cuc Le, President), Houston Asian American Dental Society (led by Dr. Bryan Chu, President, and Dr. Thai Vuu, Community Director), and the Federation of Vietnamese Au Co Women (led by Dr. Linh Chu, Board Director).  The Vietnamese Houston Women also came out to help provide lunch for all the volunteers, and the dental students from the Dental Student Association of the University of Texas, School of Dentistry were among the helpers.

Since eight o’clock in the morning, patients started to gather at the front door of the Civic Center.  As the volunteers began to setup, news crews from four different television stations also arrived to record the event.  The TV stations were VAN TV, BYN, VietFace TV, and Houston Saigon Network.   Once the door opened, patients were welcomed and greeted by the volunteers from the Lions Club at the registration desk.  After that, they were instructed by the members of the Federation of Vietnamese Au Co Women to fill out the health history forms.  The participants were given choices of having either dental or eye exam, or both.  They were then led to the first table to have their blood pressure taken and consulted by Dr. Ban Vu and Dr. Anh Do (MDs).  Next, they were brought to the dental exam stations where 5 groups of dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists and dental students were giving thorough visual evaluation and recommendation for treatment.  Those who signed up for eye exams were escorted to the eye exam stations.  Dr. Diep Dinh and Dr. Hieu Do (optometrists) performed the exams and passed out eye drops to the patients.  Dr. Dieu-Thao Nguyen (pharmacist) also lent a hand by providing pharmaceutical consultations and gave out calcium and vitamin supplements to the elders.  She also performed blood glucose testing for those who requested.  Before leaving, patients also received tooth brushes, tooth pastes and floss, courtesy of Proctor and Gamble Company and members of the Houston Asian American Dental Society.  Overall, there were about 100 patients who received dental, eye, medical care, and vouchers for eye glasses.  The vouchers were provided by the Lions Club’s fundings.

The “Offer A Hand” Health Fair was a very successful and meaningful event.  All the volunteers felt satisfied because the Health Fair had given them a chance to “give back” to the community, to really help those in need and to make a difference.  Because this event was the “first of its kind”, there were some aspects that needed improvement, and supplies were very limited due to few corporate sponsorships.  However, organizers are already talking about getting ready for the next Health Fair by the end of the year, and with the experience learned, it will be a much better and bigger event with even more volunteers.

Quynh Tan, DDS