Difference Makers to present annual banquet, resource fair
The Difference Makers of Hot Springs will host the second annual Arkansas Community Health Banquet and the fourth annual Hot Springs Community Resource Fair this weekend.
Set for 6 p.m. Friday at Embassy Suites Hot Springs — Hotel & Spa, the banquet’s name was inspired from a vision of creating an annual event where current topic experts and grass roots volunteers would come together in celebration of yearly achievements and honor the work of those unsung heroes, a news release said.
This year, the inaugural Living Legend Community Service Award will be given away during the event to honor indi- viduals who have invested their life in service to the community.
Event speakers include National Park Medical Center cardiologist Dr. Troy Norred, M.D., and ShaRhonda J. Love, executive director of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission.
Banquet sponsors include Arkansas Region 8 Prevention providers, Arkansas Minority Health Commission, Arkansas Department of Career Education, Allen Tillery Auto, Center for Healing Hearts & Spirits, and Project Hope Teen Pregnancy Prevention.
On Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Webb Community Center, 127 Pleasant St., the community resource fair will give local vendors a chance to show patrons their available services. The overall focus of the annual fair is geared toward health concerns.
Speakers for this year’s fair include Anna Huff-Davis, director of Mid-Delta Community Consortium and community liaison with the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. As director, Davis led the establishment of rural health networks across 38 countries in the Delta as part of a federal Health Resource and Services Administrations grant, a news release said.
Other speakers will include Barbara Kumpe, Gloria Bastidis and Sharon Pratt.
CHI St. Vincent and Cooperative Christian Ministries and Clinic will provide free screenings for hypertension, diabetes, blood sugar and blood pressure, HIV education and awareness, and resource information targeting diseases that disproportionally impact minorities and other citizens within the community.