Organizers Hope Product of MLK Event Lasts All Year

Monday's Martin Luther King Day march of thousands of people in Sacramento culminated with an education and entertainment fair at the Sacramento Convention Center.

Of the 70 booths at the fair, about one-third provided information about education, healthcare or the Covered California insurance program.

Betty Williams with the California Black Health Network says events like this will help improve the health of minority communities.
 
"We are handing out information on where to go to the website, how to enroll," Williams says. "We have our computer set up to do a comparison on your plans to tell you how much, or an estimate at least, of how much it would cost for your premiums and your out-of-pocket."

Many booths had a theme of donation -of time, money, effort....even organs.

Nicki Carrillo with Sierra Donor Services says 72-percent of the people waiting to receive an organ are minorities.  

"The average wait in California for a kidney is ten years," says Carrillo, and if you know anything about dialysis, it's very difficult to survive past five years on dialysis."
 
Local law enforcement agencies also had booths.  Sacramento Sheriff's Deputy Kionna Rowe talked about the makeup of the department.

"It's diverse with cultures and obviously genders.  So, I think it's important that they see that we are fair in our hiring practices and then it kind of transfers to being fair in how we do business."

Organizers say the goal of the event is to inspire community involvement during the rest of the year.

Bob Moffitt Capital Public Radio News.