According to Pape, the health fair started as a pilot project in 1980, to bring a variety of health services and screenings together under one roof and Colorado was one of the original states in the project.

Since then, more than 1.7 million people have attended 9 Health Fairs with 19,000 volunteers at 154 sites throughout the state said Pape. 9 Health Fair is Colorado 's largest volunteer-driven, non-profit health fair program and its mission is “to promote health awareness and to encourage individuals to assume responsibility for their own health”, according to a 9 Health Fair flyer.

Pape said 9 Health Fair gives good training and support to its volunteers and sites, and people find something they like to do and volunteer year after year and some volunteer at several different sites. According to Roberta Smith, retired RN and one of the Guffey site coordinators, many people from previous Guffey fairs are volunteering already.

Pape said that each site gets a rather large, hefty training manual which has the rules to follow and is very helpful for setting up a basic and simple 9 Health Fair site.

9 Health Fair provides all the equipment and supplies for its sites said Pape. Quest Diagnostics, the foremost blood processing company in the world and one of the original service organizations to sponsor 9 Health Fair, supplies all the lab supplies for the blood draws as well as the centrifuges. The Colorado National Guard delivers all of the fair supplies to each site, said Pape, and it is quite exciting to see the big semi-trucks arrive.

According to Pape, about 85 per cent of the people who attend the 9 Health Fair are employed and insured and 50 per cent have a higher level of education. Surprisingly, said Pape, they are trying to reach the needier segment of the population as well as more of the indigent population.

9 Health Fair offers more than 20 free and low cost health screenings and education for participants that allows participants to track their personal information for their most important health issues, according to the 9 Health Fair flyer.

The most popular low cost screenings offered are the comprehensive blood chemistry screening, the PSA screening for men, blood cell count screening, the colon cancer take home screening kit and the vitamin D screening just added this year.

Many other free screenings are available including oral, foot, vision, skin, eye, glucose, hearing, lung function, cardio risk assessment and more depending on each site said Pape.

The Southern Park County Fire Protection District has volunteered to provide many support services and EMT services including transportation for participants without their own transportation, traffic control, a FIRST AID station, blood pressure readings, O2 saturation (how much oxygen is in your blood), finger sticks and more, according to Smith.

The main site coordinator for the 9 Health Fair, is Mary Curtis, manager at the Bull Moose Restaurant and Bar in Guffey. According to Curtis, even though some volunteers have come forward already, many, many more are needed and there are a variety of jobs for this rewarding and wonderful service project for the community.

Smith said that the site application is due to 9 Health Fair by mid-September, so volunteers need to sign up as soon as possible.

CONTACT:

MARY CURTIS: at the Bull Moose – 719-689-4199 or at home – 719-479-4777 or email – mbucksnort@peoplepc.com .

ROBERTA SMITH: at home – 719-689-5643 or email – fireboardsec@gmail.com .