By LOIS KINDLE
Inspira Tampa Bay Inc. invites you and your family to its 2nd annual Health Carnival, Saturday, Aug. 24, at 707 W. Lake Drive, Wimauma.
Open to the public, the fundraising event will feature all kinds of carnival-style games and interactive activities and take place from 10 a.m. to noon. Admission is free.
Tickets will be sold for $1 apiece to participate in carnival-style activities/games. These will include ring and bean bag tosses, goldfish bowls, a lollipop tree, duck pond, skee-ball, whack-a-roll, sack races, temporary tattoos, arts & crafts, skirt a therapist and balloon animals.
Gomez-Sanchez family members meet HCSO Community Resource Deputy Kenzie Basilone at Inspira’s first Health Carnival in 2023.
A couple of siblings visit the sensory activity table put together by Gannon University’s graduate occupational therapy volunteer Lizeth Iboy for last year’s Health Carnival
Free health screenings for vision, hearing, blood pressure, balance and strength are available for those who pre-register. The Lions World Vision Institute will provide vision screenings for kids ages 3 to 18; otherwise, all other screenings are for anyone in attendance and will be provided by students in Gannon University’s Physical Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology and Physician Assistant programs.
Diabetes educational handouts and assorted community resources will also be available at the event.
Gannon University graduate students and professors (Rita Lenhardt PhD and Deborah Scheble PhD) gathered for a group photo at last year’s inaugural Health Fair with Inspira Tampa Bay Inc., founder and chairwoman Luz Gaona, standing right.
Vendors/partners will include Achieva Credit Union, the event’s sponsor; Southshore Bilingual Therapy Inc.; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; Hispanic Services Council; Premiere Home Blood Draws; Kidzone Dentistry; Gannon University Ruskin Campus; My Health Insurance Advisers; and Lions World Vision Institute.
Hotdogs, chips, snow cones and drinks will be sold at the event. All proceeds will benefit the ongoing programs Inspira Tampa Bay Inc. offers the South Shore pediatric community.
INSPIRA TAMPA BAY PHOTOS
High school volunteer Josilyn Torres donned a Spiderman costume at Inspira’s inaugural Health Carnival last year and is seen here coloring with a preschool visitor. This year’s 2nd annual Health Carnival will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, Aug. 24, at 707 W. Lake Drive, Wimauma.
“Last year’s event was held at Southshore Regional Library, and we had approximately 60 [children] participate in speech-language screenings and occupational therapy screenings,” said Luz Gaona, founder of Inspira Tampa Bay Inc., a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization. “We hope to serve even more this year.”
For more information on Inspira Tampa Bay, visit https://www.inspiratampabay.org/. To register for the 2nd annual Health Carnival vision screenings or to purchase advance tickets, call 813-323-5783, email info@inspiratampabay.org or stop by the office at 707 W. Lake Drive, Wimauma, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., weekdays.
