Many Vernon Parish residents turned out Wednesday at the Leesville Housing Authority gymnasium to take advantage of the Fall Community Expo and learn about programs and services that may be beneficial to them.
The 2nd annual Fall Community Expo from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. offered free food and drinks to participants who strolled through to view the many informational booths set up by local agencies and organizations.
Barbara Kaveski, executive director of the LHA, explained that the expo was created two years ago in an effort to combine similar events occurring sporadically throughout the parish.
"There were little health and wellness information events being held at different times in different places, and so we felt that it would be more beneficial to the agencies and more helpful to the community if we could combine everything into one big expo," she said.
Nearly 20 booths filled the LHA's gymnasium and represented agencies from LA CHIP, the Vernon Community Action Council and the Vernon Parish Health Unit, as well as the Great American Smoke Out campaign and the Cenla Medication Access Program.
Each booth included informational packets and education on available services.
The Visual Communication Service offered the hearing impaired information concerning free hearing aid equipment, while the Vernon Council on Aging offered schedules of their events and free memberships.
"We just wanted to offer community members a chance to see what is out there and available to them in one very convenient way," explained Kaveski who said she believed the turnout for the event was good.
"We had a steady flow of people coming in," she said.
In addition to information and food, residents were also able to take advantage of free services as well. Wal-Mart's vision care clinic provided free vision screenings and Central Louisiana AIDS Support Services (CLASS) offered free AIDS screening.
LHA also offered free transportation to and from the event throughout the local area. "We wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted to could attend this event, and so we sent a van to pick up anyone nearby who needed a ride," Kaveski explained. "We felt like it was an important service, and we didn't want anyone to miss out on it."
Kaveski hopes that the expo will be an annual event.
"This is something that we would like to be able to offer year after year," she said.
Leesville, La. —
