Diabetes awareness fair to offer free education, demos and lab vouchers in Williamstown

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - With tens of thousands of West Virginians likely living with undiagnosed diabetes, WVU Medicine Camden Clark is teaming up with community partners to host a free diabetes awareness event this weekend.

The diabetes fair will be held Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to noon at First Baptist Church in Williamstown. The event is open to the public at no cost.

Timed around November’s Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14, the fair is designed to help people learn their risk, understand the disease and pick up practical tools for daily management.

Attendees can receive reduced-cost lab vouchers for a hemoglobin A1C test, which helps detect diabetes or prediabetes. The event will also feature cooking demonstrations, information from physicians and diabetes educators, and a variety of hands-on activities.

There will be giveaways, a kids’ corner with face painting and healthy snack bags, and nutrition boxes for families that include ingredients for two sample meals. The boxes are built around the “diabetes plate” method, which teaches balanced, healthy eating and also aims to address food insecurity in the area.

The Camden Clark Foundation is underwriting the event in partnership with the hospital’s diabetes education team. Staff note that diabetes affects nearly every family in some way and say the fair is meant to emphasize that managing the disease is a team effort supported by education, healthcare providers and the community.