Giving Sarasota a Healthy Start Luncheon helps moms and babies

The Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota County held its highest-attended annual Giving Sarasota a Healthy Start Luncheon on April 26 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The event raised money for Healthy Start’s programs that aim to improve the health and well-being of pregnant women, infants and young children.

Dr. Prabhu Parimi, director of the Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Institute at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, was the keynote speaker. He is a specialist on the impact of mothers’ drug use on their newborn babies.

“Dr. Parimi is such a talented man,” said Shon Ewens, executive director of Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota County. “With the opioid epidemic and all of the substance abuse exposed to newborns, this is a perfect opportunity to make our community aware that there is a problem here in sunny Sarasota. We have moms in severe need.”