The Bowling Green Rotary Club, in cooperation with the Barren River Area Health District, provided free Hepatitis B vaccinations to Hispanic men through the use of a Blane Community Immunization Grant awarded to the club from Rotary International.
The clinic was held at the La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) Church, with standing room only attendance. Following a presentation of the dangers of Hepatitis B by Dr. Juan Gutierrez of WKU's Area Health Education Center, over 30 Hispanic men lined up to receive their shots administered by volunteer nurses from WKU's nursing program under the guidance of the Health Department. The children were entertained with Spanish storytelling, piñata-breaking and one lucky young girl even won a brand new tricycle! "This event far exceeded our expectations", said Kim Flora of the Health Department. "We expected maybe 50 people to show up, but we lost count after 100! This has been our most successful attempt at reaching out to the Hispanic community, and it could not have been done without the generosity and help of the Rotary Club."
Since the Hepatitis B vaccination is a 3-part series of shots, the Health Department will return to the church over the next few months to ensure the men who received the initial shot receive their follow up shots.
Several members of the Rotary Club helped in tremendous ways: Joe Davis, of Gerald Printing, donated his printing services for the posters and flyers advertising the event; Mike Fuqua of Party 1 Superstore, donated all the party supplies; Nathan Hodges of Bowling Green Technical College, donated the advertising and food costs; and Kevin Mays, of National City Bank, donated matching funds and served as the Rotary coordinator for the event. Also in attendance representing Rotary was Director Mac Jefferson.
