VFW in Indio hosts free medical and vision services clinic
The Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 3699 in Indio hosted a free medical and vision services clinic on Saturday to give back to the community.
It was a one-stop-shop for free medical and vision care for anyone who needs it.
Terry Gonzalez is an Imperial County resident who came to take advantage of the free services.
"It was important for me to be here because I see that there's so many services that we can benefit from," said Gonzalez. “I hope that they continue to have funding so they can continue to reach out to the community, especially the underlying areas."
The clinic gave patients the opportunity to check their vision and get new glasses. Also, get a check-up from a doctor and a free COVID vaccine.
“The people are in need right now. They're uninsured or underinsured. They're financially disadvantaged," said Lucy Moreno, the Southern California chapter president of the group The Flying Doctors, which helped with the event.
“It also brings out awareness, awareness as to what's going on with our health healthcare system, what is lacking in our health care system, what can we do to improve it," said Moreno.
The event was open to everyone in the community, not just veterans.
VFW commander Leonard Abramowitz said the group plans to make the clinic an annual event.
“The VFW is partnering with Flying Doctors to get every person we can taken care of whether veterans or civilians. A lot of people here are Spanish speaking, they don't know where to get the care from and we put it out," said Abramowitz.
Organizers also work with patients to find the best way to continue any care they need.
“We continue to do this from the bottom of our hearts with passion, respect, and really working with diversity, integrity, and collaboration," said Moreno.
