The annual Kids At the Park event drew more than 850 children who visited more than 25 booths, collecting a stamp on a passport with each stop. The annual event serves as a resource fair for local families, connecting them to educational programs, health services and law enforcement while also offering a chance for children to have some fun at Dunne Park.
Kids, often with their parents or grandparents in tow, walked from booth to booth in search of fun activities. Many of the booths put together short activities for the children, such as a ring toss at the San Benito County Police Activities League or a kiddie pool full of bubble toys by the Youth Alliance booth. One of the big hits of the day was a tug of war game near the Youth Alliance booth, where two volunteers helped visiting kids to break into two teams to compete. Robin Pollard and another yoga instructor taught the kids some quick yoga poses, offering them a healthy snack after their short workouts. A face painting booth, sponsored by the Youth Alliance, had one of the longest lines of the day. Other agencies handed out brochures or stickers to children and their families.
Mary Anne Hughes, the executive director for the Community Food Bank, said a steering committee of four helped to organize the event this year that included 27 agencies. Some of those making an appearance included First 5 San Benito, Youth Alliance, San Benito Health Foundation, San Benito Police Activities League, and more. She said the committee is hoping to add some new members to help with planning for the 2014 event.
“We were a little behind schedule,” Hughes said of the planning, “because we only had for people on the committee.”
She said while it is easy to get agencies on board to participate it takes some time to coordinate advertising the event in the community as well as collecting donations for the raffles.
The Community Food Bank had a booth this year that handed out healthy snacks.“We give them apples and banana chips to show them they are just as food as Fritos and potato chips,” Hughes said.
She said she stays involved not only for the chance to expose community members to information about the food bank, but also to give kids a positive experience.
“Kids need as much positive stimulation as we can get them,” she said. “We can get them in contact with the police, the sheriff and the fire department for a fun, engaging and personal thing rather than when something horrible is going on in their neighborhood.”
Dolores Villalon, the coordinator for the Youth Alliance off-site afterschool programs at Gateway and Rancho Park Apartments, said the goal of the event is to educate kids on the different programs available in the community.
“It was a good event,” Villalon said. “We were able to reach out to a lot of families and get a lot of information out.”
She said the Youth Alliance had about 12 volunteers at the event in addition to about 19 high school Associated Student Body volunteers, including some who dressed up as fruits and vegetables. The high school students danced for the crowd dressed as peas, a banana, grapes and a bell pepper, encouraging other students to come up and dance with them.
“It was great just seeing all the happy little faces, going around with their little painted faces and the little toys they were getting when we had the raffles,” Villalon said.
