Davidson Medical Ministries Clinic (DMMC) will hold a free fall health fair on Oct. 10 from 9 a.m. to noon at the clinic’s office, located at 420 North Salisbury St.

“It’s going to be a pretty awesome event,” said Sandy Motley, DMMC executive director. “It’s another opportunity for us to reach out to the under-served population of the county.”

As a nonprofit agency, DMMC provides medical and dental services to county residents who are uninsured, but anyone in the local community is welcome to attend the fair. Co-sponsors for the event are the American Heart Association’s “Queen of Hearts: Going Red for Women” program that emphasizes heart disease prevention in women and Novant Health’s “Fit to Live” program that emphasizes diabetes prevention.

Medical professionals will check participants for blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and cardiovascular risk factors as well as general health information. Individuals who want their cholesterol and blood sugar levels checked are advised not to have anything to eat or drink, except water, for six hours prior to the blood work.

“Participants will also fill out a cardiovascular-risk assessment survey,” Motley said. “They will actually get to sit down with a cardiologist for five minutes or so to review that risk assessment, and to look at a quick overview of where they stand on the risk scale.”

A diabetic educator from Novant Health also will be available to answer questions about diabetes. Limited bilingual services will be offered, and participants will be asked to fill out a community-health assessment survey.

Carolina Cardiology initially contacted DMMC, Motley said, to host one of four health fairs it wanted to put on in the next 12 months. She thought it was a great idea, and it would help raise awareness not only about health, but about the clinic’s services.

Motley said that it isn’t clear yet what impact the recession has had on her agency, but donations were down as usual this summer.

“Typically, charitable organizations have a decrease in giving during the summer,” Motley said. “Things start picking back up as school gets started back, and people get back into their normal routine.”

The agency now is looking forward to its fall fundraising campaign, which will begin as soon as the United Way blackout period ends, Motley said.

“We’ve made cutbacks, we’re surviving through those, and we’ve not had to make any others,” she said. “We’re still here, and we’re still doing what we do.”

Staff Writer Karissa Minn can be reached at 888-3576 or newsdesk@tvilletimes.com.