The Second Health-Screening Day will be held tomorrow, August 2, at the Filipino-American Community of Los Angeles, Inc. (FACLA). The venue is the FACLA Social Hall at 1740 West Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90026. The event will run from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A blood-donation drive, free mammogram and other health-screening tests will be done as public service by the Cha Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (CHPMC) of Los Angeles.

The first Health-Screening Day at the FACLA was held on Nov. 14, 2007, and it was also done by a team from the CHPMC. It was conceived as an annual event by Errol Santos, a CHPMC executive, and Bobby M. Reyes, the founder of the Media Breakfast Club (MBC). Mr. Reyes is now also the FACLA Secretary General and a member of its Board of Directors. Mr. Santos is the overall chairman of the event for the second straight year while Mr. Reyes and his fellow FACLA Director Teresita Elegino serve as co-chairs. Ms. Elegino chairs the FACLA Committee on Health.

NEWS FLASH: Benito Miranda is a member of the FACLA and a member of the Rotary Club of the Historic Filipinotown. He is also a former “Search to Involve the Pilipino American” (SIPA) Board president. Mr. Miranda heads the United Health Care/Secure Horizons, which also owns the PhilAm Care in the Philippines. He just contacted Bobby Reyes and said that his company could have been also a sponsor of the 2008 Health-Screening Day at the FACLA – had he known on time the said event. He has instructed Mr. Reyes to formally "notify him three months prior to the 2009 Health Fair, so that his company can also do a screening or sponsor something or whatever to help the needs of our Fil-Am seniors and veterans."

Officially, it is billed as an event organized by the CHPMC, in cooperation with the MBC and the FACLA. This year, the organizers are tapping associations and businesses in the Historic Filipinotown District and Los Angeles County to serve as the event’s community sponsors, which are tasked solely to publicize it among their members and the public in general.

The community sponsors (in alphabetical order) are the:

AGS Adult Day Health Care, Inc.

Bayanihan Senior Citizens Association, Inc.

Calvary Chapel Echo Park

Cebu Brotherhood, Inc.

Cebu Sinulog Dancers

Ernie Delfin and his “Healthy Coffee” Multilevel Organization

Duke Duong and Valerie Lam and their “Sunrider International” Multilevel Organization

Fabulous Eagles Club of Los Angeles

Historic Filipinotown, Inc.

Justice for Filipino-American Veterans (JFAV) Alliance

Knights of Rizal (Los Angeles chapter)

L.A. Central Pharmacy

L.A. Golden Lions Club

L.A. Ladies Senior Association, Inc.

Leyte-Samar Association, Inc.

Pacific Air Leisure Services

Philippine-American National Association, Inc.

Philippine Town, Inc.

Ranun sa Ranao—Teatro Kandusay

Santo Domingo (Ilocos Sur) Association—USA

Sorsogon Province Association of the USA

SRN Financial Services (on behalf of the Blue Shield Healthy Families Program)

United Bicolandia—Los Angeles

U.S.-Philippines Expo at the Pomona Fairplex on Aug. 9-10, 2008

Veterans Federation of the Philippines—Region USA

There are media sponsors for the event. They are Romeo P. Borje (the dean of Filipino-American columnists), the Philippine Nurses Monitor magazine, the Photo-Reporters Guild, Inc. and the www.mabuhayradio.com.

The organizers hope that the event will become a complete Health Fair by next year at the same weekend. Mr. Reyes says also that he hopes to persuade the organizers, the MBC and the FACLA as well as the community sponsors to include as part of the activities a “Fiesta HispanaFilipina” and a “Marian Festival,” in recognition of the contributions of the Hispanic community and Latin countries in the making of the Filipino heritage. He says that it may be best to do the event in tandem with the Hispanic community, as the Historic Filipinotown’s population is almost 80% Latino. # # #