Health Department event gets kids ready for back-to-school

KENANSVILLE —Nearly 200 parents and children alike, gathered at the Duplin County Health Department in Kenansville last Thursday, Aug. 1, for a back-to-school vaccination event.

“The kids need immunizations to go back to school so we are doing this event to help with that,” said Maury Castillo, a public health educator with the Duplin County Health Department. Castillo explained that the kids need to have their immunizations up to date within 30 days after the first day going back to school.

“We do this twice a year and it has helped out a lot in the community,” Castillo told Duplin Journal, adding that the yearly event is held in the afternoon to make it easier for people in the community to come out after work.

Families patiently lined up at the entrance of the Duplin County Health Department building with their young children as they waited to be registered for the event.

Six clinic rooms were open for the public and staffed with bilingual personnel for the event.

According to Cindy Zuniga, Duplin County Health Department health educator, 79 children received vaccinations ranging from meningitis, tetanus, to HPV and more. Children who had no health insurance or were on Medicaid received free immunizations and those with private insurance who were not in-network, received a 20% discount.

After receiving their vaccines, families took their children to the conference room where they were greeted by area agencies and vendors who provided free school supplies, goodies, and informational resources.

According to Zuniga, 184 children received free bookbags.

“Blue Cross Blue Shield provided the book bags,” said Castillo, adding that they also gave away $10 gift card vouchers for families to shop at the Ripe Revival mobile unit parked outside the health department building.

Eli Moore with Ripe Revival explained that the goal of the non-profit is to fight food insecurity, and they do so through their pay-what-you-can mobile market.

“We have meat, milk, we have eggs, we have a bunch of really good fresh fruit and vegetables — most of it from North Carolina,” Moore told Duplin Journal, explaining that at the pay-what-you-can mobile market, customers can shop for their groceries and decide how much they can pay.

“We’ll tell them what it would cost at a grocery store, they can pay that, they can pay less than that … they can pay nothing — There’s no judgment,” said Moore.

Participants enjoyed cotton candy treats provided by WellCare, received school supplies, COVID test kits, and personal hygiene kits from Duplin Christian Outreach Ministries.

Sandra Mendieta and Nicoya Chestnut, both with the WIC program, provided information about the special supplemental nutrition program, which goal is to safeguard the health of low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, infants, and children under the age of five who are found to be at nutritional risk. They were also giving away baby onesies for new and expectant mothers who participated in the event.

Event goers also received educational material about safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases and received free condoms. The Duplin County Opioid Response Team was also onsite providing information about the dangers of opioids and distributing free Narcan to any families who may need it.

For more information about vaccinations, please contact the Duplin County Health Department at 910-296-2130.