Community
Your stories, your voices Marcn 27 2008.
Community
- Calendar
Campaign Kick Off
The official ForNvth County
Barack Obama for President
Campaign kick off and organiza
tional meeting is set for tonight,
March 27 at 7 - 8:30 pjn. at the
Quality Education Institute.
50 1 2 Lansing Dr., across from the
Carver School Road Public
Library.* Volunteers are needed
for Voter Registration, Block
Captains, Faith Captains. Dorm
Captains. Phone Trees, Phone
Banking, Canvassing,
Transportation. Housing, Food,
etc. For further information, con
tact Julian Federle at
julian.federle@gmail.com or 773
727-2310.
Whitespace Gallery opening
The art of Artist Charly
Painter Joumey will be exhibited
at Whitespace Gallery March 28 -
May 30. The opening reception
and artist talk will be held Friday,
March 28 from 6-9 p.m. featur
ing a special performance by
Emeka at the Gallery, 401 E.
Fourth St., Suite 202. For more
information, contact the gallery
by calling 722-4671 or
' www.whitespacegallery.org.
Aging Committee meeting
The next meeting of the
Forsyth County Aging Services
? Committee will be held Friday,
March 28 at 9 a.m. at the Central
Library on Fifth Street. This
group includes older adults,
health care providers and govern
ment representatives who meet to
ensure that efficient and high
quality services are available to
meet the needs of older adults.
The group meets every third
Friday of each month. The public
is welcome. Call 703-3883 for
more information.
Meet and greet
Swing Phi Swing Social
Fellowship, Inc. is hosting their
Spring 2008 "Meet and
Greet/Interest Meeting" to be held
on Saturday, March 29, at 5 pjn.
in the Urban League social room,
201 W. Fifth Street. Swing Phi
Swing Social Fellowship, Inc. is
an organization founded at
Winston-Salem State University
in 1969, dedicated to the support
and uplifting of women and com
munity. Refreshments will be
served. For additional informa
tion visit www.swingphiswing
rubu.org.
Voting Rally
The Winston-Salem Urban
League, 105.7 KISS FM and
community and faith-based part
ners will sponsor a non-partisan
Voter Participation Rally on
Friday, March 28, from 6-8 pjn.
at the Urban League, 201 West
Fifth Street.
The rally will take place two
weeks prior to the April 1 1 regis
tration deadline for the NC pri
mary election, which is on May 6.
The admission for the rally is
a voter registration card or on-site
registration.
Lunch & Learn Seminar
The W-S Urban League in
partnership with the N.C. Institute
of Minority Economic
Development is holding a Lunch
& Learn Seminar. Dr. James H.
Johnson, Jr., director Urban
Investment Strategies Ceifter at
Keman Institute of Private
\ Enterprise, UNC at Chapel Hill
will present "The Economic
Impact of African Americans &
Hispanics on the Winston-Salem
Economy." The event takes place
on Monday, March 31 from 11
a.m. - 2 pjn. at the Urban League,
201 W. Fifth St. Lunch is on
them, lb RSVP, contact Lois
Turner or Patricia Sadler at 725
5614.
Cortney Wilson leads an exercise class.
Diabetes Expo(sed)
Annual health fair
draws hundreds
of people
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE _____
Kathy Cunningham was
the picture of health Tuesday
afternoon. Dancing and twist
ing to "the music as she tried
her hand at Zumba, the smile
never left Cunningham's face.
"I work out five days a
week at the Fulton Family Y,"
she proudly proclaimed. "I
have lost four dress sizes
since November, a total of 44
pounds ... I feel great."
Cunningham was one of
more than 300 people who
took part in the Fourth Annual
Diabetes Expo, held at the
Education Building at the
Winston-Salem Entertainment
Sports Complex March 25.
The free event was the
result of a joint effort between
Forsyth and Surry counties.
Themed, "Get Heart Fit" the
event drew more than 25
exhibitors.
"The whole purpose of it "
was to help people with dia
betes and their families find
out what tools are available to
help them manage their dis
ease and prevent complica
tions," explained Tonya
Wilson, a health educator at
the Forsyth County
Department of Public Health,
who helped coordinate this
year's exposition. "This year,
we were focused on the heart,
'Get Heart Fit' because two
out of three people with dia
betes tend to die from heart
disease and stroke. That
sounds very depressing, but
there are things you can do to
prevent that."
Managing diabetes can be
a tricky task, as Cunningham.
51, has learned the hard way.
When she was first diag
nosed more than a decade ago,
Cunningham says she was
careful about her diet and
Samuel Howard with his mother, Elizabeth Caesar and his daughter, Mary Chisholm.
exercise. However, as the
years went by, her initial fer
vor waned.
"My mindset was to really
not take care of my diabetes; I
was really slack," she admit
ted. She developed an infec
tion late last year and sudden
ly found herself in the hospi
tal fighting for her life.
"My right side was fully
infected - they were surprised
that I even survived the sur
gery," she revealed,
Today, Cunningham says
she feels she has been given a
second chance. It's a gift that
she doesn't take lightly.
"I'm a living miracle,
truly, and I knew that I had to
See Expo on B14
UIUI ' 1 I
Representatives from companies that specializes in diabetes products show off some of their merchandise.
- MASTERCARD. VISA AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED
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