Kids Line Up for Free Shots and Checkups at Health Fair
Hundreds of San Fernando Valley children showed up for free shots and medical screenings in North Hills on Sunday as part of a program to promote preventive health care for low-income families.
More than 25,000 children in five counties participated in the fifth annual Kids Care Fair, a three-day event sponsored by the American Red Cross, KABC-TV and FHP Health Care.
Janice Mayhew of the Red Cross, who coordinated the effort at Our Lady of Peace Church in North Hills, said the experience was a new one for many of the more than 500 children who came for height and weight measurements, immunizations and dental checkups. “You can tell many of them have never been to a physician,” Mayhew said. “They walk up for a dental screening and there’s no fear.”
Children from the church neighborhood and hundreds more from other parts of the Valley watched puppet shows and clown performances between eye and ear checkups and immunizations.
Volunteers and medical professionals treated the children, who numbered about 100 more than last year.
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