JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
RAM (Remote Area Medical) visited Marion County last weekend, providing free medical services to those in need within the area.
Founded in 1985 by Stan Brock, co-host of the award-winning NBC show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, RAM has traveled across the country to help provide free dental, vision, and medical care to individuals struggling to receive treatment for their medical needs. Stan served as the organization’s president until his passing in August 2018. Since then, RAM has continued to provide millions of dollars in free medical services nationwide. In 2023 alone, RAM generated approximately $200 million in medical services, with over 200,000 individuals volunteering to support the cause.
Chris Hall, a RAM employee, offered insight into the organization and the event itself, explaining how all the
medical equipment and utilities are transported. “We truck all of our equipment in, and we typically set up at a school. At this event, we have 10 dental operatories for cleanings, fillings, and extractions. We have two lanes of refracting vision and two slit lamps for comprehensive eye exams. Patients can choose glasses, and our mobile optical lab produces them on-site. So, a patient who came in this morning can have an eye exam and a new pair of glasses by the end of the day,” explained Hall.
Many of the on-site staff, including medical personnel, are volunteers, which greatly supports RAM’s mission. “The big thing for us is we’re hosted by volunteers. We’ve got a few staff members and core volunteers, but the majority of providers, actually all providers here, are volunteers. That’s how we thrive,” stated Hall. Kristin Flake, host and member of the South 
Pittsburg Rotary and Marion County Rotaract, shared both organizations’ support of the event. She explained that it was their idea to bring RAM to the area for the first time. “We hosted RAM to come here. So this is the first clinic that Jasper has had,” said Kristin. She also described how her team supported the volunteers by providing food throughout the day and ensuring everything ran smoothly. “We set up food for the volunteers because we feed them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We just try to make sure that everything is covered, and if there are any hiccups, we take care of them,” she said. Additional sponsors and donors for the event included the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Colonial Chemical Inc., and Belmont University. Local churches, such as New Beginnings Church, also provided supplies. RAM held two other medical events on the same weekend in Eidson, TN, and Grundy, VA, both of which were on a similar scale to the event in Jasper.
