Healthy Island brought families together on Nov. 5 at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) for an evening of interactive learning, community engagement and fun focused on health, wellness and STEM education. The free event welcomed students and families to explore dozens of hands-on activity stations, connect with local organizations and healthcare partners and participate in activities designed to promote healthy habits and spark curiosity.
Throughout the evening, attendees engaged with interactive experiences ranging from CPR demonstrations and vision screenings to STEM challenges, nutrition activities and creative wellness-focused projects. Families could build balanced plates, create vision boards, test their knowledge with health trivia and myth-versus-fact games, participate in a tooth decay experiment and explore healthcare careers through hands-on activities.
Community partners also provided valuable health resources, screenings and information.
Activity stations were hosted by numerous community organizations and volunteers, including the Virginia Department of Health, Martinsville-Henry County Lions Club, United Way of Danville-Pittsylvania County, Gateway Health, Danville Family YMCA, Danville Parks and Recreation, Sovah Medical Residency Program, Danville Public Schools and IALR’s Regional Engagement to Advance Community Health (REACH) Partnership representatives, alongside members of IALR’s Dan River Year AmeriCorps program. AmeriCorps members supported a variety of stations focused on community health outreach, one of the program’s three core service areas.
The event was made possible through the support of the IALR Foundation and a grant from the Womack Foundation, which helps fund Healthy Island and other family engagement initiatives that connect families with educational opportunities and community resources.
“The Healthy Island event connected local families with health-focused resources and community organizations. Our goal was to get youth interested and engaged in health early,” said Savion Thompson, IALR’s REACH Program Coordinator. “Best of all, although geared towards the youth, everyone, regardless of age, was able to have fun in the process. We are so grateful for the support of our partners and look forward to hosting this event again next year. “
“We’re grateful to the Womack Foundation for investing in opportunities that benefit families across our region. The Healthy Island event gave children and families the opportunity to learn together, have fun and build healthy habits. The IALR Foundation is proud to partner with the Womack Foundation to support impactful family-engagement events at IALR.” – Emma Sellers, Senior Director, Institutional Advancement, IALR
Left to Right: Brian Stanley, Charles Womack, Kevin Gatewood, Emma Sellers, Audia Harris and Savion Thompson
“These are exactly the kinds of learning activities the Womack Foundation is proud to support,” Charles Womack, President of the Womack Foundation. “Seeing all those happy faces and children having fun while learning about staying healthy made it a wonderful evening.”
Highlights included a flu shot clinic, vision screenings, CPR demonstrations, a teddy bear clinic, sensory activities, physical activity stations, wellness-focused games, STEM experiments and a community resource fair atmosphere that encouraged families to learn, play and explore together.
Through events like Healthy Island, IALR, community partners and AmeriCorps members continue working together to improve health literacy, increase access to resources and create engaging educational experiences for families across Southern Virginia.
