Cabinet for Health and Family Services promotes health and wellness at state fair, and collects duffel bags for foster kids

helpourkidsinc.org

The Kentucky State Fair is not just a great place to support Kentucky's agriculture or to spend the day on the midway; it's also a great place to learn about some of the state's health and wellness initiatives and to donate a new duffel bag or backpack to a foster child.

“Often times, when children are removed from their home and placed into state care, all their belongings are literally stuffed into a black garbage bag,” Health Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Glisson said in a news release. "This effort changes that. Donating a duffel bag or backpack is a small but meaningful way to help foster children and give them the dignity of carrying their possessions in a new bag that is all their own.”

New duffel bags and backpacks will be collected at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' exhibit in the Health Horizons area of the South Wing B. The fair runs through Aug. 27 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

The cabinet's exhibit will offer daily interactive displays that features learning activities for children and adults, free health screenings and on-site health educators who can speak to individuals about wellness and prevention. It will also offer free dental screenings for children with signed consents who are entering public school kindergarten or first grade from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.

In addition to these daily health initiatives, they will also have special "focus days," including:

• Tuesday, Aug. 22: Services for Seniors, including Adult Protective Services, Aging and Independent Living/Long Term Care Ombudsman, and the Kentucky Prescription Assistance Program
• Wednesday, Aug. 23: Focus on Foster Care and Adoption, 10 a.m. to noon
• Thursday, Aug. 24: Focus on Zika Education and Mosquito Control, 10 a.m. to noon
• Friday, Aug. 25: Focus on Substance Use Disorder Strategies and Services, 10 a.m. to noon

Exhibit buildings are open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission at the gate is $10 for adults, seniors and children; free for children 5 years and under. Parking at the gate is $10 per car.