YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Saturday, 300 Sisters in Red held its 18th-annual wellness program for women.

Women from across the valley dressed in red and filled the inside of the Kilcawley Center at YSU.

Since 2005, 300 Sisters in Red has worked to educate minority women about their health and well-being with an emphasis on heart health.

“We are about awareness, we are about educating, we are about empowering the people,” said Ruth Quarles, of Links Incorporated Youngstown Chapter.

Inside, various organizations set up tables providing women with information about their health and how to seek help. There were free health screenings, health presentations and Zumba for participants.

“We are concerned about heart awareness. Heart attacks kill more Americans than any other condition. We are concerned about kidney health — we have a special grant to make kidney awareness a part of our community,” Quarles said.

“The African American population experiences a disproportionate amount of health disparity. We don’t get all the information, there’s not time in the doctors’ office, there’s not complete understanding of what’s going on,” she said.

300 Sisters in Red connects women with all kinds of resources and strives for a complete approach to health.

“It’s the whole well-being of the person, what you eat, getting enough sleep, all the stress,” Quarles said.

Knowing what health resources are available can be empowering, too.

“We want people to be aware with what’s going on so they can ask the right questions, so they can seek the right resources for what they need,” Quarles said.