KEYSER — Exactly how much sugar is in common foods such as McDonalds’ sweet tea, a Snickers bar, or even an orange? Local residents participating in the the third annual Speaking of Women’s Health Fair held Saturday at the Keyser Wal-Mart Supercenter found out that amount.
Several local agencies — the Mineral County Health Department, Keyser Curves, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Alleghenies, Shenandoah WIC (Womens, Infants, and Children,) Family Crisis Center, the International Beauty School, Arbonne International representatives, Potomac Valley Hospital, the American Cancer Society, Mountain Hospice, the Healthy Mineral County Coalition, and the West Virginia University Extension Office — all set up information tables.
Brochures, pens, magnets, and other information was distributed, and questions were answered concerning all aspects of women’s health.
Misty McDonald, Missions Representative from the International Beauty School, was answering questions from interested locals wanting to know more about this popular career field.
“No matter how old you are, everyone wants to make money,” said McDonald. “Our school is a one-year program, and we’ve had students as old as 69 take classes. There are also all kinds of government loans and grants that can help out students.”
Curves in Keyser was performing body mass index analyzations at their table using such information as age, weight, and height of individuals while having them grip tightly to the analyzer which sent an electrical pulse through their bodies to measure BMI.
“The electrical current travels around and the fat blocks the current,” said Curves owner Renee Pomeroy. “It measures a percentage of what is getting through.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Alleghenies was also distributing information and answering questions to prospective volunteers.
She shared that there is currently six boys on the waiting list for Big Brothers in Mineral County.
“We recently made a female match last month,” said Match Support Specialist Tari Emmart, who stood beside a spread of pictures showcasing past Big Brothers, Big Sisters. “We are trying to make the public aware that we are in Mineral County and trying to get some volunteers interested and some children interested in participating.”
The local Family Crisis Center, headed up by Roxanne Powell, legal advocate, and Raw Ann McGhee, legal and victim advocate, was disbursing information on domestic violence and sexual assault.
“We are hoping to network with other agencies and get our information out there,” said Powell.  
New to the county is Mountain Top Hospice, an organization based out of Tucker County. They shared important information about the services they offer to patients who choose to receive home-based care verses hospital-care
Stephanie Miller, Director of the American Cancer Society of Mineral County handed out information cards advertising the Relay for Life scheduled this year for July 18-19 from 6 p.m.-6 a.m. at the South Ends Sports Complex in Keyser.
She said that the event is right on track, with several new teams coming on board.
“We want people to know that the American Cancer Society is here 24-7,” said Miller.   
Mineral County Health Department performed took the blood pressure of residents.
RN Sharon Nicol said that more and more women today are dying of cardiac problems than ever before.
“We are also handing out information on diabetes and stroke,” said Nicol. “We are focusing on education and healthy eating and knowing the warning signs of health problems.”
Nicol emphasized that blood pressure screenings are offered each Thursday at the Mineral County Health Department from 1-3 p.m.
Linda Lease of the Mineral County Healthy Coalition and Western Maryland Health Systems Parish Nursing Department was also busy giving blood pressure screenings as well as educating the public on the dangers of tobacco.
“We offer smoking cessation classes,” said Lease.
Pam Riggleman, representing Shenandoah Womens, Infants, and Children (WIC,) said her main goal of Speaking of Women’s Health was to educate families about what WIC has to offer to expectant women and young children.
“A lot of families of three, with both parents working, do not realize they are eligible to receive WIC with the new income guidelines,” said Riggleman.
The new eligibility requirements for a family of three allows the total household income to be up to $2,714, said Riggleman.
Anita Fairley from the West Virginia University Extension Office had a tableful of candy bars, popular sodas and fruit drinks and some vegetables and fruits with bags of sugar representing the amount of sugar in each item.
“Sunny D is only five percent fruit juice,” said Fairley, of the popular children’s beverage. “Minute Maid is 100 percent juice while the Minute Maid Grape Drink is only five percent juice. It is all expensive and it is only going to get worse. We might as well buy something that is good for us and is going to keep us healthy.”
Since 1996, Speaking of Women’s Health has been hosting conferences across the country.
Their mission is to “educate women to make informed decisions about health, well-being, and personal safety for themselves and their families.”