Saturday is the 28th of the month and Saturday is the 28th edition of the annual Free Flu Shot Saturday at six schools in Knox County. All six will be staffed by Rotarians from the six clubs in town, handling the early morning setup at the sites, the paperwork and administration and even helping people find parking places.
For the past 10 years, the Rotary Club of Farragut has been blessed and led by our Flu Shot Saturday coordinator, Mark Bialik. Four years after joining the club, Mark stepped up and he’s quite a leader.
He’s also a member of the club’s board of directors as co-chair of our Family of Rotary Committee and has chaired or co-chaired other committees. Mark has been an anchor on our District 6780 Golf Tournament champion teams too. By day, he owns and is president of GBS Engineering. He is a professional civil engineer and he counts among his clients the Pilot Flying J Corp. He worked on several projects in the development of Turkey Creek. Usually you can find his wife working at Flu Shot Saturday too – Realtor B.J. Swinehart.
Mark’s big heart and family made this his calling for the club. “Around this time (2008-2009), B.J. and I were the primary caregivers for her parents and we were very sensitive about the flu. Had we brought the flu into their home, it could have killed them. So, when our club needed someone to handle this project, I wanted it,” Mark says.
He has seen the good that that comes from getting a flu shot. “I also enjoy seeing our group working and providing a service. I do look forward to working this each and every year. I will be walking the entire event and I hope we have so many people show up, that we run out of shots.”
Mark coordinates a team of 25 to 30 Rotarians and this year we will be helped by members of the Hardin Valley Interact Club, which is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Farragut, and the Girl Scout Troop 20114. Past president Leah Berry’s daughter Orly is in this troop.
As the coordinator, Mark also is the club gopher. He rounds up all of the materials and signage. He gets the clipboards and pens and pencils ready for the consent and registration forms and makes sure he has donuts, coffee and orange juice ready for the volunteers, the UT student nurses who administer the flu shots, and those drawing the vaccine from the vials. It is a big operation he pulls together year after year, seemingly with little effort.
On Saturday he’ll be at Farragut High School’s cafeteria by 6:15 a.m., unloading his car and working with the school staff to set up the cafeteria. The Rotary volunteers and nurses arrive about 7 a.m. and there is usually a line at the door by 6 a.m. The “official” time to open is 8, but Mark likes to open around 7:30 and get things started.
And the family connection?
“I love this event because it reminds me of Saturdays growing up in Muskegon, Michigan. My father would volunteer my brother and me to do something for the church or for the Knights of Columbus. They are some of my best memories as a kid from the age of 5 to 18. Those Saturdays instilled in me the volunteer spirit. This is also why I became a Rotarian. I am grateful for the opportunity to do something that’s good for the community,” he said. “I do love it and it’s a passion of mine.”
Two new initiatives debut this year.
Walgreens is joining this event at all six locations with a team that will be providing the “high dose seniors shots,” administering the shots and taking insurance information (if they have it). “However, if the person does not have Medicare, or insurance, they can still get their shot. We will be working with Walgreens to provide the ‘drive-by’ shots also,” Mark said. The Farragut site will have 250 doses available for the seniors.
Drive-by flu shots are provided to those in their cars who are physically unable to come inside.
Also, for the first time, people can use a credit/debit card to make donations to the News Sentinel’s Empty Stocking Fund, which receives all donations from the six locations on Saturday.
If you’re interested in exploring membership in Farragut Rotary, drop me an email at tking535@gmail.com We meet at 12:15 p.m. each Wednesday at Fox Den Country Club. You also can call me at 865-659-3562.
Tom King has served at newspapers in Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and California. He started writing for KnoxTNToday in 2017.