(Written by Savannah Jones)
MORGANTOWN W.Va– The West Virginia Wellness Festival is set for Saturday, July 13, at the Mylan Park Community Center, offering services for mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.
The event, hosted by nonprofit organization Forgiven Warrior, will feature 90 exhibitors from all across North Central West Virginia, ranging from medical professionals to massage therapists to pet adoption helpers.
Forgiven Warrior Founder Sarah Giosi said the festival is a way to unite the community and encourage health and wellness.
“We bring everyone together for this and really try to offer to the public for free an opportunity to come out, see what’s out there, get free screenings, free diagnostics, and we make this thing fun and interactive,” she said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.”
The event is one of Giosi’s many community efforts through Forgiven Warrior, which she created three years ago in honor of her late husband. She said the organization aims to improve health in West Virginia on all fronts.
“Our whole goal is to help West Virginia stop being number 50 on all of these national wellness lists,” she said.
She said her inspiration for the organization was to stop the duplication of effort surrounding health in West Virginia and instead assist projects that are already in motion.
“The whole entire philosophy of this organization is not to create brand new things but to bring people together. How do we help to showcase what is happening? How do we help to come alongside and amplify the efforts of organizations that are already out there?” she said.
Giosi said she wants to see more collaborative efforts surrounding health in West Virginia. The festival, which serves as a state-wide effort, is a prime opportunity for it.
“One of my frustrations is looking around and seeing our amazing and thriving and beautiful community and then seeing us not collaborate as much as I believe we could or not work together in the ways that I think we could,” she said.
The festival will be kicked off by a 5K run starting at 9:15 a.m. and will feature several other fitness competitions.
Aside from the exhibitor fair, other events include panel discussions on postpartum, mental and financial wellness every hour starting at 11 a.m. and an activity tent with various presentations throughout the day.
One featured presentation is a cooking demonstration by the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program at 12:30 p.m.
“They’re actually doing a healthy mac and cheese and a healthy chicken strip, and they’re gonna teach you how to cook that for your family so that it’s something that will be healthy but also your kids will actually eat it,” she said.
The festival’s main sponsor, Dynamic Physical Therapy, will also put on a stretching and breathing session in the activity tent at 1:15 p.m.