Dozens of organizations seized the chance Friday to serve locally at the annual Community Outreach Event.
Businesses, food banks, health care providers and more set up booths in the First United Methodist Church parking lot. Coordinator Jennifer Lay estimated around 300 people attended this year, though attendance was still being calculated at press time. This number was down around 30% from 2022’s event.
“The exit surveys are... showing the heat played a factor,” Lay noted.
The event is organized by the Butler County Community Resource Council.
The gathering was a mix of regular and new organizations. Ozark Federal Credit Union was among the original Community Outreach Event contributors back when the event was held in Black River Coliseum, and it has now returned after a hiatus.
As of noon Friday, business development specialist Davine Conover felt like attendance was lower than it was last time she attended, but still described it as “such a good outreach, a good community event.”
Conover manned OFCU’s booth, teaching “The Four Hs of Finances” to visitors: “habits,” a person’s current patterns of spending and saving; “heredity,” the values one was raised with around money; “handpicked,” how to make informed financial decisions; and “hazards,” potential financial dangers.
“Those reasons that people spend money could be a filter system from the past. Or it could be a habit that they got from their parents, because we’re (at) provincial poverty level,” said Conover. “Because year after year, that cycle doesn’t change until somebody changes.”
OFCU developed its classes and other tools like webinars and a podcast through a $10,000 grant from the National Credit Union Association.
Down the asphalt, the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri provided heart health screenings and information
VNA offers various types of home care, private duty nurses and senior companions to residents in 18 counties. Staff at the booth said the company was a three-year veteran of the event.
This year, they were able to offer heart health screenings with Dr. Ben Till.
“We did the heart stuff because we had the doctor today,” noted Tisha Williams.
These included simple tasks like blood pressure checks all the way up to more advanced readings. Nurse Morgan Esselrodt said a couple of patients with health concerns were glad for the chance to get a checkup on site.
“Just being able to come into the community is important. Transportation is a problem in this area... I think it’s important to be able to reach people we wouldn’t see otherwise,” said Esselrodt.
Bags of food, free lunches and school supplies were also given away during the event.
A photo gallery can be viewed at https://www.darnews.com/gallery/42601