St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Faith Lutheran, Macedonia Baptist, Beech Grove United Methodist and Ebenezer United Methodist churches are holding a Children’s Health Fair in Hobson at Macedonia’s fellowship hall on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The fair is the first public project organized and presented by North Suffolk Churches United, an ecumenical group that began as a monthly prayer meeting, including St. Andrew’s, Faith, and Ebenezer soon after Sept. 11, 2001.

&uot;We were neighbors, but not Christian neighbors,&uot; said Ebenezer’s pastor, Carl LeMon.

&uot;Our journey in prayer made us aware we shared many issues…beyond denominational differences, the one thing we shared in common was the purpose of doing something about poverty.&uot;

Beech Grove and Macedonia have joined the group since, with the hope more congregations will join.

According to LeMon, there has been no organized ecumenical effort in North Suffolk until now.

&uot;We started meeting almost a year ago with lay representatives from our churches to explore how we could address the systemic issues of poverty.&uot; LeMon said.

&uot;We are looking at duplicating what happens in Isle of Wight, a wonderful compassionate ministry called Christian Outreach Project, which is a city-wide cooperation of churches and county government.&uot;

As for Nov. 12’s fair at Macedonia Baptist Church, the free event is being staffed by pediatric physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals.

Vision, dental and fitness centers will be set up.

Afftel and Rader Optician will be performing vision screenings and dental professionals from J. Dwight Bradshaw, D. D. S., will provide cavity screenings and dental care counseling.

Educational centers will also be part of the fair.

Bennett’s Creek Pharmacy will have a pharmacy center set up to discuss when and why to give certain medications, and have lists of medications that are dangerous to children.

There will be an interactive nutrition and fitness center to help kids and parents make better healthy lifestyle choices.

Specific infant health, child health, and teen health centers will be available too.

There will be free hot dogs, burgers, cookies, cupcakes and games; the first 100 children will get goodie bags.

The food is being provided courtesy of Food Lion and Sysco, and the bags will be from Bennett’s Creek Pharmacy.

The Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and Eastern Virginia Medical School are contributors to the fair.

andrew.giermak@suffolknewsherald.com