Condoms, Cell Phones and Bibles

Condoms, cell phones and bibles. What do these things have in common? Well these were just some of the giveaways at the Yuba College Health Fair held on Thursday April 21. The fair began at 10 a.m. and drew in students, faculty and the community alike.

Sunny skies and warm weather broke through after consecutive days of clouds and cool breezes to bring those on the Marysville campus a chance to explore the many health-related booths and colorful displays set up by organizations and businesses in the community. Christians in Action, an active club on campus made their presence known with their own unique giveaways including videos and pamphlets. The club also helped with set-up and coordination of the event and gained seven new members. Other clubs such as Mecha and the Black Student Union sold out of the lunch that they provided at the event.

Local band Global Funk gave a free concert on the steps of the Theatre at noon. As the live music drifted through the air, students visited popular booths such as that of the Peach Tree Clinic who gave free blood sugar level tests and Planned Parenthood, collecting pamphlets, condoms and other information on safe sex. The American Cancer Society was also on hand to offer information on their cause.

The event, organized by Student Health Services Registered Nurse Cindy Snelgrove to make students aware of health services available in the area, also included a successful blood drive and bone marrow registry thanks in part to BloodSource and the National Bone Marrow Donor Program. Many people, such as first-year Yuba College student Janet Paredes overcame their fear of needles in order to save lives and help others.

Paredes, who donated blood, had the following to say: “I just know that there are people out there who are in desperate need of blood transfusions.” “You never know, someone close to you could be put in that same situation and you’d want them to be able to have a fighting chance.”

The bone marrow drive was actually a way for people to register for the program as potential donors through the donation of a small amount of blood to be tissue typed. Not however, an actual removal of marrow at the site as some people believed. Both organizations were set up in the mat room of the Yuba College gymnasium. The blood drive had 70 blood donors and the marrow drive enlisted 80 new donors.

Snelgrove, who worked hard to bring all of the organizations to Yuba College, hopes to continue to provide students events such as these for years to come.