Free Health Fair: Charlotte, NC
The Sri Sathya Sai Center of Charlotte organized a medical camp at the Bethlehem Center of Charlotte on November 16, 2019 to support the health needs of residents of low-income neighborhoods. About 156 residents attended the medical camp which included free health screenings, pediatric services, dental checkups and health education. All patients received general checkup along with blood sugar and blood pressure monitoring, detailed review of any chronic medical condition, psychiatric counseling as needed, and complete dental and vision screening. Pediatric patients were also evaluated for growth and developmental issues. All visitors, including their family members, were offered nut-free vegetarian breakfast, snacks and lunch.
About 40 medical personnel selflessly came together with much vigor, enthusiasm and love to serve the patients. Non-physician medical staff, such as medical assistants and pharmacists, supported the doctors with checking vital signs and blood sugar levels. About 70 Sai Center members, including the Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) students, helped with all the other arrangements including venue setup, serving breakfast and lunch and helping both the visitors and physicians. They offered prayers at the beginning of the camp and radiated joy throughout, participating with immense dedication. The younger SSE children, with the help of their teachers, provided water and distributed lunch to the visitors. The older SSE children helped patients navigate to the doctors' rooms. At the end of the visit, all patients received free backpacks from the Sai Center with free hygiene kits and samples from United Health Care and Hope organizations.
Some of the older SSE children, with the support of Sai Center members, interviewed patients, doctors and documented valuable feedback. About 92% of the patients provided a high rating for the medical camp services. Several patients requested the Sai Center to organize more such events to help the local community. About 90% of the doctors who participated in medical camp were not members of the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization (SSSIO). They were, however, touched by the love and immense dedication showed by the Sai Center members, and were very impacted by Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s message of selfless love and service, and the emphasis on providing free medical services. The doctors were gratified to have participated in the camp and expressed an interest in serving in future medical camps. Dr. Sai Lakshmi, medical director of medical camp received heart-warming feedback from several of the doctors.
Dr. Ankita Modi commented, “Remarkable effort by all. It was so wonderful to meet so many like-minded physicians and volunteers. I would love to work together with all of you again in the future. Sai Lakshmi, hats off to you and your compassionate team. Thank you for all that you do for the underserved communities of Charlotte."
Dr. Neeta Kukreja stated, “I want to congratulate all the Sai volunteers for a great job on organizing the health fair. I was very impressed with the dedication, zeal, enthusiasm and humility of all the volunteers. It’s a great way to serve the Charlotte community. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
Dr. Ankur Shah shared, “It was a truly humbling experience to be able to volunteer in such a great event! What a blessing it was to meet some of the awesome volunteers as well as to contribute our time to help the community. Congratulations on an amazing job to the Sai Center, and for making this event possible!”