Students and faculty gathered in the St. Charles Room to take part in the free food, relaxing massages and the blood drive provided by the Oschner Medical Center.

For the past five years, the members of the Loyola Recreational Sports Complex have held the Wellness Expo, an event designed to promote issues of health to students.

Event coordinator Erica Svoboda said she hopes the event helped students take advantage of the programs available.

“This event is to show the students the many wellness opportunities in the community and on campus,” she said.

Svoboda also said that the Wellness Expo has indeed helped to get

students more involved in the fitness programs in the community. However, Svoboda said she believes there is still room to improve.

“As far as what I would like to improve upon for next year is getting more vendors that are interested in promoting to students,” she said. “We have a good group here but I’m sure that there are more out there.”

Among the many vendors present during the Wellness Expo was GMC Protein and Supplements.

Spokesman Destin Sather provided an assortment of proteins and supplements to students. Sather was also confident that the promotion of Wellness Expo among companies like GMC could serve as an incentive to students who are strangers to exercise.

“You have your types that like to play video games but staying fit and exercising will definitely help in the long run. I think more universities should promote wellness expos because it just helps get students aware in order to better themselves overall,” Sather said.

One of the most popular vendors included in the Wellness Expo was the Oschner Blood Drive. Accounting freshman Julian Rose was among the many students volunteering to give blood but took time to visit some other vendors as well.

“It’s been pretty good going around and getting information,” he said. “I enjoyed the GMC booth, the Louisiana Seafood Exchange and the Intramural Sports. I’ve always been aware of staying fit and being healthy.”

Students had over 20 vendors to choose from at the event. Rose said he enjoyed the variety of vendors and is already looking forward to next year’s Wellness Expo.

“I would definitely consider doing this again next year. Events like these give students the chance to find out how important it is to stay healthy,” Rose said.

Mark T. Robinson can be reached at [email protected]