Akendra Garrett, EFENP Agent – Berkeley and Charleston Counties
Akendra Garrett, Berkeley and Charleston counties’ Nutrition Educator, is eager to work with MUSC CARES medical students to sign up eligible individuals for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). In an attempt to raise awareness in the St. Stephen community about the numerous health advantages linked with good nutrition.
The CARES Clinic is a non-profit organization that provides free medical treatment to uninsured persons of all ages in Charleston and surrounding areas. It is administered and managed by MUSC professional students who want to learn more about medicine and how a free clinic operates. At CARES, medical, pharmacy, and PA students work with licensed physicians to care for patients and offer specialty nights like Pediatrics night, OB/GYN night, GI night, and Mental Health night, including the primary care/general medicine nights, for which doctors from the community come in to volunteer.
On Saturday, February 10, 2024, MUSC medical students showcased their quarterly MUSC CARES program. The events at St. Stephen are a part of the Rural Health Outreach aspect of the CARES clinic. 5-6 volunteers staffed a table to promote the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the importance of good health to the community. Sign-up sheets, goodie bags, veggie quesadillas, and smoothies were offered. Positive comments were provided by locals, with the veggie quesadillas being particularly popular. Apart from that, there were six health screening tables, check-in and checkout tables, and food and produce distribution tables in the school parking lot, handled by volunteers and persons from the Lowcountry Food Bank. Overall, the event was a great success, and The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program looks forward to working with residents from St. Stephen and the neighboring areas.
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.
