Eighth Annual Delta Health and Wellness Day set for September 27

CLEVELAND, Miss. — The Healthy Campus/Community Initiative in Delta State University’s College of Education will host the Eighth Annual Delta Health and Wellness Day on Thursday, September 27, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., inside the Walter Sillers Coliseum on campus.

Delta Health and Wellness Day offers free screenings, educational outreach, and access to health care to all Delta residents. The event highlights health care services throughout the Mississippi Delta and is open to the public. In its first seven years, Delta Health and Wellness Day has drawn more than 1,000 attendees.

"The Healthy Campus/Community Initiative plans to expand further across the Delta this year by offering a more diverse set of free screenings and by continuing to raise awareness about health care and services," said Katrina N. Taylor, of the Delta Health and Wellness Day Committee.

Delta Health and Wellness Day includes three primary components:

• An area where exhibitors of health-related organizations perform free screenings. Health care professionals, non-profits and others set up display booths and provide information and services to the public.

• A Kids’ Korner where fourth and fifth grade students have scoliosis checks, participate in health-related activities, and receive valuable information on healthy eating, nutrition, exercise, and safey.

• A Teen Zone for all tenth graders from Bolivar County and surrounding counties. Students will be bused in for a day of fitness activities, healthy eating/thinking/decision-making, and positive thinking. For teens it will be a day of emphasis on mental, physical, and emotional health.

All testing and screenings at the event are free.

"Healthy Campus/Community Initiative staff are determined to meet the needs of our community. Delta Health and Wellness Day is just one of many ways we plan to reach out this year," said Taylor. "If change is going to come, the entire community will have to pitch in, and that is exactly what Delta Health and Wellness Day will bring to our community."

For more information on Delta Health and Wellness Day, contact Katrina N. Taylor at 662- 846-4572,

Now in its fourth year, the Healthy Campus/Community Initiative operates under Delta State’s College of Education and is funded by the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation. Other Healthy Campus/Community Initiative programs include Court Street to Cleveland, in-school nutrition education, Fit-Tastic Fridays, a mini-conference on health for local educators, OKRA Camp, and nutritional and fitness counseling.