Latin music livens the Kiwanis Club of Arlington Health Fair at Carlin Springs Elementary School on Saturday. The event is the third annual collaboration between the Arlington Kiwanis Club and Virginia Hospital Center (VHC) Health Division. 

The first thing you notice is the long line waiting on the far side of the room for free eye tests. The eye test is followed by the opportunity to choose a pair of free reading glasses and a pair of sunglasses from a selection donated by the Lions. Edna Escobar, in line behind her son Alejandro, finishes her eye test and carefully chooses her glasses.

May Quigley, coordinator for the health fair says, “The free eye exams are huge and very important. This

service is very popular. It just boomed last year with a long line outside. I think it must have been word of mouth.”

Volunteers staff tables scattered around the room representing a number of community organizations including AFAC, Bridges to Independence, Transportation Resources and Virginia Cooperative Extension. 

Melanie Anderson, Executive Director of Arlington Thrive and the chief organizer of the event on behalf of the Kiwanis says, “We had 30 community organizations sign up for today with 50 volunteers and 150 free flu shots to give out as well as free bikes donated by Phoenix Bikes.”

Bela Spooner from Mindful Beginnings is showing Valentina Torres how to give CPR to a plastic baby. Valentina presses her fingers on the baby’s chest and looks up for affirmation. Spooner says, “There have been a number of kids here asking a lot of questions like ‘what do you do if a baby is choking.’ This baby doll has been the biggest attraction.” She says Mindful Beginnings offers classes in a number of areas. “The classes on how to take care of children are popular for middle school children who want to start babysitting.”

A microphone calls out cuatro-tres-cuatro, and an excited yell goes up as the winner checks her ticket. Kelly Martinez steps up to the cheers of the crowd and declares the bike will be for her ten-year-old son Andrew. The next lucky number is 372.

Nurses from Arlington County Public Health Division are offering free flu shots but they note the crowd so far is not as large as last year. “By this time last year we had given out almost all of our free shots but this year we need more people to stop by.” 

Speculation is the lower participation might be due to the rainy weather or maybe some people are staying home due to fear of ICE in the community.

In a nearby room RN Maria Dalton is offering a quick finger test to determine risk of diabetes. They have given 40-50 tests in the first two hours since the health fair opened at 10 am. Blood pressure tests and chagas testing are also available at other locations around the room. And on your way out, grab a free book in English or Spanish from Read Early and Daily (R.E.A.D.)