Sun River Health Center marks its 50th anniversary with a community carnival in the heart of Peekskill. This Saturday, August 2, Pugsley Park will become the site of a celebration featuring live musical performances, play areas, food trucks, and raffles. The event begins at 11 a.m., is free, and welcomes the entire family. (Rain date is Sunday, August 3.)

The schedule, which will continue until 4 p.m., includes an inflatable bounce house, food trucks, arts and crafts, face painting, a petting zoo, live magic shows, raffles, and performances by E-Mazin Entertainment, Cesar Vele, and DJ Berry Blendz. Local children will receive school backpacks while supplies last.

While the program at Pugsley Park will be informal and recreational, directly across the street a formal institutional ceremony will take place. It will consist of a symbolic ribbon-cutting at the health center that was the organization’s original location: the Jeannette J. Phillips Community Health Center. Sun River Health is a network of 50 community health centers located throughout the Hudson Valley.

During the 50th anniversary celebration of community health care, Anne Kauffman Nolon, Executive Director of Sun River Health, and other local representatives will participate. The event will recall the origins of the health network, which began in Peekskill in 1975. The local initiative was founded by four African American women: Willie Mae Jackson, Pearl Woods, Jeannette J. Phillips, and Mary Woods. Since then, it has grown into a network serving more than 250,000 patients annually in urban and rural communities across New York.

The Peekskill site was named in honor of activist Jeannette J. Phillips, who died in 2023 at age 90. She is remembered as a beloved leader and visionary who focused all her efforts on supporting positive actions for the city. Her passing left a significant void in the community, residents say. “She helped guide the emergence of patient‑led community health care in New York State from its roots in the civil rights movement into the modern era,” said Sun River Health following her death.

Founded with determination, conviction, and purpose, Sun River continues to offer community health services with dignity. It provides general practitioners, mental health care, dentistry, nutrition programs, support for the uninsured, and social assistance.

The goal of this Saturday’s celebration is to reconnect with that community in the very space where it all began: the block between Main Street and Pugsley Park. More information about Sun River can be found at its website.