The 2023 Healthfair/Readifest was a collaborative program planned by the Spencer County Cooperative Extension Service and the Family Resource/Youth Service Center.  There were several other groups who helped sponsor the event with monetary and time donations.  Churches and other local businesses also donated school supplies. For the past 2 years, the program has been a walk through outdoor event.  

            The goal of this program is to help improve the community’s health for both adults and youth and to ensure school age children have needed health checkups and school supplies before the first day of school.

            Throughout the 2 hour event, adults and children visited over 54 booths where they could get various health checks and also received information on health topics, including healthy eating, cancer prevention, bicycle safety, mental health, health insurance, and physical fitness.  Children also received school supplies, which included pencils, crayons, folders, paper, notebooks, backpacks, markers, and other items needed for school.  This helped reduce the amount of money that families have to spend for these needed supplies, especially in this time of rising prices.

            The results for the 2023 Healthfair/Readifest were once again outstanding.  There were over 900 people that participated, including over 400 children and in-kind contributions for volunteer hours and supplies was $44,504.55.