Founding Partners the City of Anaheim, Anekant Community Center, and GBS Linens, Inc.

MORE THAN 800 PATIENTS SERVED AT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL
SEVENTH ANNUAL FREE ANAHEIM HEALTH FAIR EVENT

                                                                           
Anaheim, California, July 02, 2013
Dr. Nitin Shah

– On Sunday, June 30, 2013, Founding Partners the City of Anaheim, Anekant Community Center, and GBS Linens, Inc., hosted a highly successful Seventh Annual Free Anaheim Health Fair at Magnolia High School. Braving a summer heat wave with daytime temperatures soaring into the range of 95 degrees, more than 800 patients were served at the health fair.

 Over 50 doctors and health care professionals all donated their time at this free one-day event, assisted by more than 400 volunteers. A partial list of the services offered included: Physical exams (vital signs and screenings); heart checks (EKG); cholesterol (lipid profile), diabetes (glucose), and anemia (hemoglobin) tests; bone strength measurement (bone density); women’s services (mammograms and pap smears); eye exams; chiropractic and acupuncture services; and voluntary bone marrow donor program sign-ups. And, for the first time, we were able to provide actual dental services “onsite” at the health fair (dental extractions, fillings of cavities, etc.) for more than 100 patients. Lestonnac Free Clinic arranged for dental chairs and equipment for use by the dentists and dental assistants voluntarily providing their services. For those who could not be treated onsite due to time constraints, Dr. Piyush Karia has kindly offered to provide “free” services at his dental office.

 The idea of bringing a “free” health fair to the City of Anaheim was first proposed in 2007 by Pravin Mody of Anaheim-based GBS Linens, Inc., and Dr. Nitin Shah in association with Anekant Community Center, to Former Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem Harry Sidhu – thereby forming the groundwork for what has now become an important annual event in the City of Anaheim. Co-Chairs for this year’s health fair were Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem Gail Eastman and Anaheim City Council Member Jordan Brandman.

 During a Special Recognition Program, the following key partners and sponsors were acknowledged and thanked: the City of Anaheim; the Anekant Community Center; GBS Linens, Inc.; Lestonnac Free Clinic; C2Reprographics; Mr. and Mrs. Avadhesh Agarwal; UC Irvine Healthcare; Anaheim Public Utilities; and West Anaheim Medical Center. Additional sponsors include: AltaMed; Anaheim Chamber of Commerce; Anaheim Ducks and Honda Center; Anaheim Fire & Rescue; Anaheim Resort Transportation; Andy Frain Services; Angels™ Baseball; Birth Choice; CalOptima; CARE Ambulance; CareMore; Clean City; Disneyland® Resort; FREEMAN; HP Enterprise Services; J & H Drilling; Jean and Bill O’Connell; Kaiser Permanente®; King’s Pharmacy; Magnolia School District; Northgate Markets; Orange County Water District; Orin Abrams/THE CLUBHOUSE at Anaheim Hills Golf Course; Paul Kott Realtors; Republic Services; Ruby’s Diner – Anaheim; SA Recycling; Smart & Final – Anaheim; Southern California Tamil Organization; Walmart; Woodlands Indian Cuisine; Yellow Cab of Greater Orange County; and Zlaket’s Market.

 Event Co-Organizer Dr. Nitin Shah explained to those gathered, “Why offer free health screenings? Because health is the best wealth one can ever have.” He also emphasized a very meaningful Chinese proverb: “If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” And, Founding Partner Pravin Mody of Grand Sponsor GBS Linens, Inc., and Former Mayor Pro Tem Harry Sidhu, both expressed their “very special thanks” to all who are ensuring the continuation of this important community event in Anaheim.

 Mayor Pro Tem Gail Eastman said that “this is the type of event that makes me especially proud of our city.” While Council Member Jordan Brandman stated that “it was an honor to Co-Chair this year’s event for health and well-being.” Council Member Brandman also thanked Dr. Shah, Pravin Mody, and Former Mayor Pro Tem Sidhu “for their unified vision of establishing this health fair to give back to those in need.”

Main volunteer coordinators and team leaders included: Founding Partners Dr. Nitin Shah and Pravin Mody; Dipak Patel; Siva Subramanium; Deepak (DJ) Jhaveri; Arun Arya; Niranjan Bhatt; Dr. Narendra & Trupti Trivedi; Bala Palanisamy; Karen Dennis; Jon Gilwee; Subbu Shanmugham; Purnima Karia; and Deepak & Harsha Shah.

 Among the special guests attending this year’s event were: Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait; Anaheim City Council Member Kris Murray; Interim Anaheim City Manager Marcie Edwards; Anaheim Fire Department Chief Randy Bruegman; Lt. Curtis Faulkner on behalf of Interim Anaheim Chief of Police Raul Quezada; Anaheim Public Works Director Natalie Meeks; Ed Gerber, Executive Dir., Lestonnac Free Clinic; Mr. & Mrs. BU Patel; Jon Gilwee, FACHE, Executive Director, Government Affairs, UC Irvine Health; Scott Kelly, Assistant Area Director Public Affairs, Kaiser Permanente; Annemarie Randle-Trejo, Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) Board of Trustees Member/Clerk; Nathan Zug, Magnolia School District Board Member; Kathleen Strobel, School Nurse Practitioner, AUHSD; Orin Abrams; Daniel J. Arbgast, Jr.; and Representatives from the Offices of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, State Senator Bob Huff; Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva and Assemblyman Tom Daly.