CHOCOWINITY — A Durham-based health services company is doing its part to encourage rural residents of Beaufort County to place an emphasis on their health and wellbeing.

Next Saturday, Sept. 7, Zing Life Services will return to Chocowinity for its second-annual “Choose You! Walk for Life,” a Walk-A-Thon-style event designed to raise awareness and address health disparities in the community. The walk will be held at the Chocowinity Recreation Complex, with registration for the walk beginning at 8 a.m. and lasting until noon.

“Our background is essentially identifying that there are health disadvantages and disparities amongst residents of eastern North Carolina,” said Jalexys Smith, a health educator with the company. “One of the big factors is we want to empower and encourage residents of eastern North Carolina to make their health a priority.”

In addition to the vigorous exercise of walking, the event will also include health screenings from a number of local healthcare providers and other organizations, including Vidant Beaufort Hospital, the Beaufort County Health Department, Access East and the Mid-East Commission.

“They’ll be providing blood glucose testing, cholesterol testing, blood pressure, height and weight testing,” Smith said of Vidant’s offerings. “They typically have a nurse there to review results and offer some type of consultation. We will have the health department present, and they’ll be offering the A1C screenings.”

There will also be volunteers on hand to discuss enrollment in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.

Founded by Aurora resident NyKedtra Brown, Zing Life Services offers first aid and CPR training, nurse triage services, health coaching and a variety of health workshops. Coming back to Beaufort County, Brown and her staff hope to address some of the healthcare issues in her home community, meeting people where they are.

“As a healthcare provider, she understands firsthand that individuals are limited in their access to care due to a number of barriers, whether that’s transportation, health literacy or even medication adherence,” Smith said. “So the reason Zing Life fits in is to help bridge that gap by providing health education.”

For more information on Zing Life Services, visit www.zinglifeservices.com. To learn more about the 2019 Choose You! Walk For Life, or to register, visit bit.ly/chooseyouwalk2.