Annual Go Red for Women Luncheon to feature Mrs. America, lots of information

May 3—The annual Go Red for Women Luncheon is coming up May 8 at the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 305 E. Fifth St., with a variety of panelists and speakers.

Sydney Gore is the chair of the committee organizing the event, which will include speaker Regina Stock, Mrs. America 2023, and emcee Stephanie Rivas, general manager of the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center.

Stock will talk about what it takes to become Mrs. America and the health journey she has gone through as a cancer survivor.

Panelists will be Dr. Kathryn Hutton, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, assistant clerkship director OB-GYN and regional director of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health; Dr. Stephanie Kubacak, board-certified in internal medicine, Dr. Manohar Angirekula, board certified in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology, and Chelcee Porter, founder of Porter Wellness Functional Medicine Consulting.

For tickets, visit tinyurl.com/3thk67fz

Gore said many committee members have been on board for many years.

Her mom Jacqui was chair when she was younger.

"I got her to come back ... so I got to see her go through all of the Heart Association and Go Red events and I brought her back to help me this year," Gore said. "We also got my sister involved, so Hannah, she's at Sewell and she got to help out this year as well," Gore said.

She and her sister grew up going to all the health fairs because her mom was with Odessa Regional Medical Center and Medical Center Hospital.

Jacqui Gore is now vice president for Community Engagement and Partnerships at University of Texas Permian Basin.

"We grew up around all of this and going to the heart walks," said Gore, who is marketing manager at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center.

Previously, she had been at Complex Community Federal Credit Union.

Gore is in her third year on the Go Red committee.

"At Complex Community, we were very involved with the heart walk as well as Go Red, and so I sat on the committee for Complex Community," she added.

Her grandmother had a heart attack when Gore was in high school. Lots of other health issues came up after that, so she has a "soft spot" for heart health and women's health in general in the Permian Basin.

She added that it would be very beneficial for people to attend.

"We have a great lineup of panelists this year. They're going to talk all about not just women's health but health in general. There's also going to be Chelcee Porter. She is a pharmacist, so she's going to talk more on the medicine side. There will be lots of great things. The Odessa Fire Department will be doing hands-only CPR, so you can learn CPR while you're there as well," Gore said.

Booths from Medical Center, Mission Fitness, Kendra Scott items and physician information will be available before the program starts at 11:30 a.m.

Additionally, the American Heart Association received a $227,000 grant from the FMH Foundation in early 2024 to fund a Health Hub inside the Reeves County Library, City of Sundown Library and expand services in the Jeff Davis County Library.

The Health Hub will include Telehealth capabilities with the necessary medical devices.

Gore said they began working on this luncheon right after the one last year ended.

Along with Gore, those serving on the committee are Nicole Forbes, Complex Community Federal Credit Union, Hannah Gore, The Sewell Family of Companies, Jacqui Gore, UTPB, Soraye Lara, Red Pixel Marketing, Jennifer Leija, Medical Center Health System, Reagan Paquette, Odessa College, Susan Thornton, Medical Center Health System, and Jessica Zuniga, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

"We are looking forward to the event. It's been a long time coming, getting all of the sponsors and everything and then we'll be also celebrating Medical Center's 75-year anniversary. They're the big sponsor every year and so we'll be able to help celebrate their big 75 years this year," Gore said.