“Why did I get myself into this?”
Chanda Jenkins has occasionally asked herself that question the past 14 years.
One thing snaps her out of it every time.
“When you’re at the event and people say, ‘This is the only time I see a doctor,’ I remember my why,” Jenkins explained. “We see anywhere from 2,700 to 3,500 people in two days.”
Physical exams, vision and hearing screenings, dental check-ups, even car seat installations are all part of the Community Assistance and Resource Event – or CARE Fair as it’s known – conducted by the Junior League of Salt Lake City each June and July. And thanks to multiple hospitals, medical clinics and 20-plus community agencies that donate their help, every bit of it is free to those in need.
Jenkins, a Marketing Project manager with Regions Home Improvement Financing, had no medical background before getting involved with CARE Fair.
We see anywhere from 2,700 to 3,500 people in two days.” Chanda Jenkins, Marketing Project manager with Regions Home Improvement Financing
“I’d moved back to Salt Lake from Oregon and wanted to make some friends,” she said. “When I joined the League, they asked if I’d be willing to serve on the CARE Fair placement, just as a placeholder until they moved me to another group. I initially responded, ‘No,’ not wanting to own any big projects.”
But no one else was raising their hand.
“I kept saying, ‘OK, I can do that; OK, I can do that,’” Jenkins recalled.
She left that night co-leading the League’s largest initiative.
“I had to learn quickly because one of the things I took on was the recruitment of doctors,” she said. “I was calling hospitals and community outreach groups. I remember asking, ‘What’s an otoscope cover?’ I’m trying to Google what that is, and I can’t even spell it.”
Thankfully, a nurse practitioner was assigned to help. They worked together for three years.
Jenkins gained more confidence as she settled into the role – so much so, she was invited to take on another role she never imagined.
“One of the doctors we worked with shared a community position was open on the University of Utah’s Medical School board of directors,” she said. “He encouraged me to interview, telling me I could be the voice of the community.”
How did the person who initially said ‘no’ to leading CARE Fair respond?
“I could do that.”
During her two-year term, Jenkins helped implement changes like making it a requirement for physician assistants at the school to help with taking vitals and doing exams and physicals at CARE Fair.
We typically have about 15 to 20 associates who volunteer. They’ll often come back a second day and bring their families to help.Chanda Jenkins
Four years ago, Jenkins stepped away from overseeing CARE Fair’s medical aspects. But before you think she’s eased up on her responsibilities, you should know she’s now overseeing facility details – things like security, food, logistics, even ensuring there’s enough privacy draping ordered and staged to fill an entire five-story high school.
“We use every bit of available space, including the parking lot,” she said.
It also takes a lot of people to cover CARE Fair, so Jenkins recruits her Regions teammates to help.
“We have a lot of caring people in our office, and Joel (Cannon) has been so supportive,” she said. “We typically have about 15 to 20 associates who volunteer. They’ll often come back a second day and bring their families to help.”
Those volunteers include Amanda Craner, a Senior Event Marketing manager, who signs as a certified interpreter for the deaf and hard of hearing.
“The Deaf community often faces situations where writing back and forth is their only way of communicating, which leads to misunderstandings,” Craner explained. “People who realized I could sign met me with a smile on their face and a sense of relief and assurance. Everyone deserves to have a voice and be heard in the way most comfortable for them.”
CARE Fair helps ensure accessibility to health care is available to those who need it most. Brittany Valentine, Customer Outreach manager
Brittany Valentine, Customer Outreach manager, and Rachel Richardson, Relationship manager for Regions Home Improvement Financing, are both Junior League members who now also pitch in.
“CARE Fair helps ensure accessibility to health care is available to those who need it most,” said Valentine. “The Junior League has given me chances to show up in many ways to support my community.”
Jenkins uses her “What a Difference a Day Makes” volunteer day each year, a benefit she encourages fellow bank associates to leverage, too.
“Some people might go into it thinking it’s a day off,” she said. “But to the people they’re serving, it’s a game changer; a life changer.”
This year’s CARE Fair is barely over, but Jenkins already knows she’ll be back in 2026.
“I never, ever, had any interest in the medical field before this,” she said. “But I’ve discovered where the gaps are in community service, where the need is. Those days can be chaotic and stressful – but all the hard work is worth it.”