LSU Health New Orleans, Tulane University, and The Blood Center will hold the James Miller Memorial Health Fair and Blood Drive on July 29 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Audubon Tea Room, 6500 Magazine Street in New Orleans. The event honors the Aug. 1 birthday of James Miller, who went missing and was presumed drowned while vacationing with his family in Nov. 2021. His parents are members of the faculty at LSU Health New Orleans (Fern Tsien, PhD) and Tulane University (Chris Dvorak, MS, CGC).
James Benjamin Miller III was a philosophy and history major at Tulane University. As vice president of community engagement, he established a recycling system, organized student events, and led hurricane relief programs for residents who had been displaced by Hurricane Laura and more recently, Hurricane Ida. He participated in community cleanup efforts and data collection for the Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition. James worked during summers as a counselor and an instructor at the Audubon Zoo, where he received praise for his patience and kindness when working with children of all ages and abilities. His loss led to the approval and implementation of the Ley de Seguridad Acuática (Aquatic Safety Law) in El Salvador, which has already saved hundreds of lives.
Activities during the health fair event include health screenings and the opportunity to save up to three lives by donating blood. Health education offerings include water safety information from the Louisiana Department of Health, safe sleeping information for infants from the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office, ALS education from Team Gleason, youth mentoring and mental health from Son of a Saint, addressing health disparities from Dillard University, as well as domestic abuse prevention and resources in Spanish from Golden Change. LSU Health New Orleans participants will be the Community Outreach, Rebuilding, and Education (CORE) medical students providing blood pressure and glucose screenings, Tiger Pride medical student organization with LGBT health information, Krewe du Flu medical student organization with Flu Vaccine info, All of Us Program with information about precision medicine, the School of Public Health with tobacco and vaping cessation, and cancer information, as well as the Human Development Center with information about and resources for persons with disabilities.
Blood donors will receive free t-shirts, and other giveaways, including free snowballs. Live music will be performed by the “Eli Tsakiris and Co.” Tulane medical s jazz group, The “Tiny Dinosaurs,” St. George’s Episcopal School music teacher Layla Sutton’s folk/Cajun music band, and the “LaCoste Band” (James’ Ben Franklin High School teacher’s jazz and R&B band).