By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
It may have been rainy on Monday morning, but the weather couldn’t drown the spirits of the organizers and participants in the first annual Breast Cancer Awareness Community Resource Fair.
The resource fair, brainchild of KYNECT’s Tammy Moore, was a resounding success, she said.
“We’ve had a very good turnout with our vendors who came in, with the community, and with the Facebook livestreams they’ve been doing,” Moore said. “It’s been very informative, and very heartening.”
While the event was a culmination of breast cancer awareness month, that isn’t the only type of cancer to impact families, Moore said. She said she was glad they were able to highlight other cancers and health screenings as well, encouraging a holistic approach to healthcare.
She said the ability for participants, as well as those providing information, to network and interact was one of the highlights of the event. Not only could folks get signed up for a healthcare plan, they could also talk directly with primary care providers or support networks, Moore noted.
“It just blows my mind… with all the networking,” she said. “How they’ve actually come together and said, ‘Hey, I can help you with this,’ or, ‘I can help you with that.’ The presenters that we’ve had have been very informative. And the community has really come out, and they’ve really supported us.”
“Even on a rainy day,” she continued, “if they’re not supporting us here, they’re supporting us on Facebook Live. And, like I said before, if it reaches just one person, then it’s been successful.”
Moore has spoken in the past about her own family’s struggles with cancer, and how it’s a heartache she hopes to save others from enduring.
“I personally have lost loved ones to cancer, and I don’t want to see anybody else go through what we had to go through,” she said. “The help is out there. The resources are out there. They just have to connect to the right people, and that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to connect all the different resources, to where they can come and talk to somebody about what’s going on.”
She said they had primary care providers on hand from King’s Daughters, Primary Plus, “and from other medical resources they can talk to.”
If it’s other issues folks might struggle with, like transportation to appointments, Moore noted they had resources for that as well.
“We also have people from Northeast (Community Action), and there’s so many different programs out there that they can call. Just call and we will get someone out there to help you,” she said.
Moore also thanked the sponsors who helped the event with donations, as well as community members who contributed financially to the event.
“We have flowers donated by Grayson Tourism, and balloons from Events by Beck. Food was donated by Northeast (Community Action),” Moore said, convinced she was overlooking someone and emphatic that everyone who participated and donated was appreciated.
“We’ve had so many people in the community that have come together to help us with this program,” she said, and for that she’s thankful.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
