Cookeville Life Church is hosting a free mobile medical mission Saturday to provide healthcare services and essential resources to community members in need.
Director of Duo Mobile Medical Mission Vinnie Scardino said the event focuses on providing medical, dental, and vision care alongside food and haircuts for those unable to access such services. Scardino said the mission aims to support individuals facing income or insurance challenges that prevent them from maintaining their overall health.
“We want to be the church outside the walls of that building and to be able to reach the community that may be in a hurting situation, emotionally, spiritually, and if we can do that, then we’ve accomplished much, you know,” Scardino said. “We want to try to be the hands and feet of Christ as best we can, so meeting physical needs and also meeting spiritual needs at the same time.”
Scardino said all medical services are free provided by certified and licensed professionals who volunteer their time and equipment. Scardino said the organization also partners with local schools, to reach families through their students.
“We believe in the overall health physically, but we also believe in overall spiritual health as well,” Scardino said. “So we offer that as well, willing to pray with them and help them and give them any kind of information on additional resources they may need for other parts of their lives that maybe they need challenging.”
Scardino said the event will take place Saturday morning at the Cookeville Life Church campus located at 2223 North Washington Avenue.
“If we can help provide that for people that may not have it and try to reduce the amount of hardship they may go through when it comes to health, I’ll give you an example of somebody has teeth that are in bad shape because they haven’t been able to get the care they needed,” Scardino said. “That’s extremely painful and uncomfortable, so your quality of life is diminished greatly when you don’t have the dental care that you need.”
Scardino said the mission utilizes a stage truck for outreach and works closely with school officials to distribute flyers. Scardino said while the program cannot provide medical care to minors, it serves students through professional haircuts and cooked meals.
“Of course, we don’t solve all their problems,” Scardino said. “But if we can do just a small portion of their difficulty, then if we can help them with that, then we’ve accomplished much in my eyes.”
Scardino said the mission is currently seeking additional volunteers specifically in the fields of dentistry and optometry to maximize the care they can provide.
“It’s just amazing to see the community of professionals come together and even non-professionals that come together as one unit operating in one common goal to reach a community,” Scardino said. “And I can’t speak enough to that. It is just, moving to to see that, to experience that.”
Scardino said the volunteers operate under the principle of the golden rule, finding personal joy in serving others. Scardino also said the mission was the brainchild of Pastor Bobby Davis.
“When you operate in that, it brings a happiness and a deep seated joy in your heart that you normally would not get otherwise,” Scardino said. “You can’t buy it, you can’t make it, you can’t reproduce it. When you do that and and that’s one thing that these volunteers have tapped into. There’s a joy that comes with that and you want to come back for more.”
The mobile medical mission is scheduled to continue outreach efforts with an upcoming event at Burks Elementary School in June.
