The Love Your Lungs: Sacramento Lung Health Coalition is hosting its first Lungapalooza, an outdoor festival to promote lung health. Lungapalooza aims to spread awareness about the importance of lung health in the Greater Sacramento community. It takes place on Saturday, Oct. 1, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., at Esther's Park, 3408 3rd Avenue in Sacramento. Free tickets are available by registering here.
Lungapalooza will feature informational booths mixed with fun activities. There will be a free BBQ box lunch for each person who registers. Games and raffle prizes as well as food, music and fitness sessions will add to the festival.
"This first-ever event for Sacramento was organized to educate our community about lung health, including the importance of lung cancer screenings as well as the dangers of tobacco use and vaping," said event coordinator Alex Gori who is also a coordinator for the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Office of Community Outreach and Engagement. "We hope to bring health experts and community members together through impactful engagement that also shines a light on the racial disparities we see in lung cancer."
Lung cancer affects Black Americans, particularly Black men, differently than their white counterparts. Black men are 11% more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer and 9.8% more Black men die from the disease, according to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.
Guest speakers from various health systems and community-based organizations will share information with Lungapalooza attendees. David Tom Cooke, UC Davis oncology surgeon and chief of the Division of General Thoracic Surgery will speak on lung cancer health disparities.
The mission of the Love Your Lungs: Sacramento Health Coalition is to educate, engage and provide evidence-based lung health information and resources to diverse communities. Partners include:
- UC Davis Health
- Kaiser Permanente
- Dignity Health
- Sutter Health
- Kick It California
- Sacramento County Public Health
- California Department of Public Health: California Dialogue on Cancer
- Saving our Legacy: African Americans for Smoke-free Safe Places
- Breathe California Sacramento Region
- Genentech
