BRADENTON- In a way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. a group of Suncoast organizations came together to host a wellness event for those in need.
“The legacy of Dr. King is bringing equality and essentially making sure everybody has access to services,” said members of MCR Health Group.
Goodwill Manasota and the Multicultural Health Institute and partnering organizations hosted a wellness fair Saturday in an effort to provide much needed services, such as healthcare, employment and food services.
“We want to just help give people hope, it’s part of the week of service and we’re feeling really excited about this week in our country and it’s a time of healing and moving forward together as a community,” said Executive Director of Multicultural Health Institute, Lisa Merritt.
Multicultural Health provided health screenings, while MCR health provided vision and dental exams
“A lot of times with these events, we find people that didn’t know certain things that could happen in their eyes or in their teeth so it’s kind of bringing health care to the community is just one of the most important things,” said members of MCR Health Group.
Goodwill Manasota provided job and community connections as well as guidance and career services for veterans
“Right now employment is very difficult for some folks there’s lots of people with barriers to employment and we know that the unemployment level is high, and a lot of employers have gone out of business and we know that this is critical right now for members of the community to be able to get a job and get one quickly,” said Vice President of Goodwill Manasota Mission Services, Margie Genter.
Suncoast blood centers was also taking blood donations and testing for COVID 19 antibodies
“Our area hospitals are still requesting the convalescent plasma to treat those with COVID in the hospitals currently,” said Community Liaison for Suncoast Blood Centers, Joan Leonard.
Meals on Wheels Plus helped provide bundles of fresh produce for those in need as well.
“Its critical people are hurting, families are really suffering almost half of the families in the community are now food insecure, we usually go through all our food within the first hour because there is so much need, we wish we could do more but we do the best that we can and we are really excited to have the support from the community to keep going,” said Dr. Lisa Merritt.
For more information on Goodwill Manasota, you can visit their website.
