Annual Health and Benefits Fair helps employees make healthier choices

5 Jan 2015

Health care professionals and vendors from across the state will travel to Blacksburg on Wednesday, Jan. 14 to help Virginia Tech employees make healthier choices.

The annual Hokie Wellness Health and Benefits Fair, hosted by the Department of Human Resources, is part of the university's commitment to create a healthier campus.

All employees will receive two hours of annual leave to attend the event, which will be held from 7:30 a.m.to 3 p.m. at McComas Hall. McComas is home to one of the two fitness centers available to students and employees on the Blacksburg campus. Family members are also invited to the fair to help employees encourage their loved ones to live a healthy lifestyle.

The health fair will include cooking demonstrations; a flu shot clinic; free hearing and vision tests; and blood pressure, body fat and BMI, skin cancer, and diabetes screenings throughout the day. Educational sessions will include The How of Happiness, Nutrition for Optimal Performance, Diabetes Prevention and Management, and more.

More than 70 vendors will be on hand to share information with employees on a variety of topics. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in free exercise classes and swim lessons and workout using the on-site fitness equipment.

Attendees may also donate blood at the American Red Cross Mobile Blood Bus and participate in a mini Relay For Life event.

"This event is a great opportunity for our employees to learn about the resources available to them, ask questions to local health care professionals, and participate in vital screenings," said Cathy Kropff, director of Hokie Wellness.

A schedule of events and listing of exhibitors is available on the Hokie Wellness website.

For more information, contact Hokie Wellness at 540-231-9331.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.