As an alternative to traditional holiday feel-good
festivities
– those that involve drinking – several local agencies have
collaborated to hold an educational fair on Cinco de Mayo offering
just the opposite: awareness on health.
As an alternative to traditional holiday feel-good festivities – those that involve drinking – several local agencies have collaborated to hold an educational fair on Cinco de Mayo offering just the opposite: awareness on health.
The inaugural Cinco de Mayo Resource Fair will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Calaveras Park behind Calaveras Elementary School in Hollister.
Its organizers – five local health agencies – plan to provide awareness on available services in the community, along with presentations on fire prevention and cancer prevention and other issues.
An array of performers, including mariachis and Aztec dancers, will also be on hand, according to Christina Gonzales with the San Benito Health Foundation. And organizers also expect Assemblyman Simon Salinas, D-Salinas, to attend, Gonzales said.
“We’re trying to promote that Cinco de Mayo doesn’t have to be – let’s get around and drink,” Gonzales said.
Cinco de Mayo is celebrated each year on May 5 in honor of Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is not Mexican Independence Day, which is Sept. 16. It has become a celebration of Mexican culture throughout the United States and parts of Mexico.
The fair, which organizers hope to make an annual event, doesn’t directly relate to Cinco de Mayo’s rich Latino traditions. They say it’s just an opportune day for such a health fair, and one they hope gets people out of otherwise precarious environments.
Gonzales also mentioned that this time of year is the peak season for agricultural work, allowing many Latinos who may otherwise be out of town to attend.
Her organization is joined by Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, the San Benito County Substance Abuse Program, Community Solutions and the Cancer Detection Program.
Juanita Luna with the Substance Abuse Program said her organization thought up the idea, one she hopes will grow like a similar Cinco de Mayo health fair in San Jose has. She also emphasized that the event is drug free.
“Anytime you have Cinco de Mayo, there’s always alcohol involved,” she said.
The mariachis, she said, will be performing only from 9:30 to 10:30, so she encouraged people to come out early for that. There will also be raffle prize giveaways, and the event is free.
For more information, call Luna at 637-5594.
Kollin Kosmicki can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 331 or at [email protected].
