A health and fitness fair at Bixby Park on Saturday will try to raise awareness around being active and link residents to services and non-profits that can help cure and prevent illness.

Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce is hosting the event that starts at 9 a.m. and will include fitness sessions and health discussions. Among the health activities scheduled for the day are yoga, tai chi and circuit training. The health fair component of the event will include breakout sessions to discuss STIs, prophylaxis usage and breastfeeding.

Randy Hope, a legislative deputy in Pearce’s office, said that the district has some of the highest rates of HIV infections and suicides in the city so it was important for Pearce to bring the community to a central point where the issues could be discussed and people could potentially be linked to services that they need but might not know where to seek them out.

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day and Hope said that the event started as a means to draw attention to the infection rates in the district but has since expanded.

“We wanted to raise awareness about HIV rates and it just grew from there,” Hope said. “We wanted to include all health and fitness.”

The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach and the St. Mary Medical CARE Center, its non-profit HIV program are participating in the event and attendees can receive free screenings and consultations at Saturday’s event.

“It’s helpful to have these kinds of events and bring organizations together and let the community become aware of what services they have available to them,” Hope said. “If they don’t know these places exist they can’t receive their services.”

The event health and fitness expo is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 29. Bixby Park is located at 130 Cherry Ave.