YAPHANK, NY – Bloom, a free event focused on community health and wellness held each year at the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center at 350 Yaphank Avenue in Yaphank, takes place Saturday, May 6 between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County (CCE Suffolk), the event’s organizers, have this year partnered with 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island to ensure the participation of an expanded number of Spanish-language resources and vendors who specialize in various aspects of health-related education and services.
Bloom vendors will provide Suffolk County residents with information and services relating to nutrition, breast cancer prevention, stress management, diabetes education, health checks, goat yoga, and more. Some of the participants include the Hispanic Counseling Center, East End Disability Associates, New York Life, Long Island Latino Teachers Association, and the Adelphi Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program.
The event – titled “Florecer” in Spanish – is designed to appeal to the entire family, with food vendors, farm animal interactions, and hayrides running throughout the day. This is the third year that CCE Suffolk has presented the wellness event.
Music will be provided by La Fiesta Radio 98.5 FM.
According to the U.S Census Bureau's 2021 American Community Survey, approximately 207,000 Suffolk County residents speak Spanish at home, a figure amounting to roughly 14 percent of the county’s population. Furthermore, the research group Brookings Institution found in a 2020 report that Spanish speakers in America often lack easy access to healthcare, which it attributes in part to the language barrier.
"CCE Suffolk and our partners have a plethora of health and wellness information to share, though it can sometimes be a challenge to reach Hispanic communities because of linguistic hurdles,” said Vanessa Lockel, Executive Director of CCE Suffolk. “This partnership with 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island allows us make one of our largest wellness events more accessible to the whole of Suffolk County, bringing health education and fun to more residents than ever before.”
100 Hispanic Women is a national non-profit, non-partisan women’s organization with members from a wide range of industries and interests. The organization’s goal is to eliminate obstacles and encourage Latinas to be innovative, maximize their potential, and create strategic partnerships.
“We’re delighted to be joining forces with CCE Suffolk in delivering important, health-related information to Spanish-speaking residents of Long Island,” said Alicia McGrath, President of 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island. “Access to appropriate health care needs to cut across cultural and racial barriers. Bloom has now taken a valuable step in this direction.”
“According to a recent ranking, Suffolk County is the fourth-largest agricultural county among all 62 counties in New York State,” said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, Deputy County Executive of Suffolk County. “CCE Suffolk deserves our praise for using an agricultural setting to help educate local families about health and wellness. It’s a perfect fit.”
“County government plays an important role in promoting proper health care for all of our constituents,” said County Legislator James Mazzarella, whose district includes the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center. “Our efforts are enhanced through this creative partnership between Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island. I applaud their cooperation in support of Bloom.”
“Bloom provides the Suffolk County community with the wonderful opportunity to come together to learn more about health and wellness, in a fun and interactive way and in a beautiful, relaxing space,” said Sonia Spar, CCE Suffolk Board President and member of the Hispanic Advisory Board for the Suffolk County Executive’s Office. “It is vitally important that we strive to make health education as accessible as possible for all people. We are delighted to partner with 100 Hispanic Women on this effort.”
Bloom’s host location, the Suffolk County Farm, is a working farm in Yaphank that has been in operation since 1870. Managed by CCE Suffolk since 1974, the farm serves as a bridge between the organization's programs and Suffolk’s agricultural heritage. Activities on site include wagon rides, interactions with farm animals, and more.
To learn more about Bloom, visit https://rebrand.ly/Bloom-