Crowds gathered in Cerritos College’s Fine Arts building and Performing Arts Center to attend Congresswoman Linda Sanchez’s 19th annual Senior Fair on Aug. 16 from 9 a.m. to noon.
“We work really hard to try to fight for seniors to make sure that they can live their golden years being healthy and financially secure. Each year this continues to grow and we’re really grateful to the vendors that provide the information, the campus that allows us to do it here and the folk that provided the lunches,” Sanchez, who represents California’s 38th Congressional District, said.
Attendees of the fair had a chance to meet with Sanchez and were provided free services such as lunch and many different types of health screenings from the few dozen healthcare-oriented booths.
Beyond just the free screenings, healthcare was on the minds of the attendees and organizers as just the day prior, Aug. 15, the White House announced that lower, negotiated prices for certain drugs would be taking effect in 2026.
Manisha Ati, who was part of the City of Hope’s Mobile Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic booth, said, “It’s amazing, yesterday was a pretty big day for Medicare, for insurance caps so that’s been something going on for 20 years and she (Sanchez) definitely was a supporter.”
“It’s exciting to then now come here today, see all the seniors, all the talks about Medicare and coverage,” Ati continued. “We’ve got to protect our older adults – they’re living long lives and they need a lot of care and support.
“We know that there are a lot of barriers for patients to get their mammograms, cervical cancer screenings and prostate cancer screenings. So by literally being on wheels, we get to go out into the community, bring it to employer groups, community clinics, persons experiencing homelessness and just make it as easy as possible to get these preventative screenings done.”
On the topic of mobile services for older people, several of the cities surrounding Cerritos College helped older people make it to the Senior Fair by providing transportation in the form of buses.
One of the older people who attended the Senior Fair was Marta Nieves, a grandmother of six, five of whom went to universities, that spends her free time lying down and watching novellas.
“It’s (the Senior Fair) really good – they’re very organized and did a great job… I like her (Sanchez). I really like the Democrats,” Nieves said while also expressing her hope for young people and wishes for them to go to university.
Students at Cerritos College were following Nieves’s wishes as the campus was abuzz with more than just the Senior Fair – thousands of people were also on campus for a separate reason: Welcome Day.
Welcome Day is an event in which the college welcomes the new semester and new students – some of the Welcome Day attendees were even walking around the Senior Fair.
