School doesn't begin for a few more weeks, but on the lawn of Little Rock's West Central Sports Complex, hundreds of kids eagerly put on backpacks Saturday morning.
A free, back-to-school event, put on by the Centro Cristiano church and Univision Arkansas, drew a crowd of families. Services included free school supplies, haircuts and information on health care in two languages.
Some, like Miguel Jimenez of Mabelvale, whose children munched on hot dogs and played in the shade, said they were there "por la gente" -- for the people and feeling of community.
The carnival-style event was geared toward Hispanic people but was open to all. Some children played in bouncy castles. Others sat in the grass eating shaved ice while wearing their new backpacks or balloon hats.
The annual late-summer celebration is in its fourth year and was started by Centro Cristiano, a nondenominational church on West 36th Street that serves the Spanish-speaking community. It first took place in a park on 36th Street, then got Univision Arkansas as a sponsor and used War Memorial Stadium as a venue.
"They needed help growing it, and the community really embraced it," said Greg Fess, president of Pinnacle Media, which operates Univision Arkansas, the Spanish-language television network's affiliate in the state.
Cynthia Ochoa, a volunteer from Centro Cristiano, said people started lining up at 8 a.m. Saturday to get one of the 1,000 backpacks available, though the gates didn't open until 10 a.m. John Molina, pastor at Centro Cristiano, said it was a "miracle" that the event took place after severe thunderstorms overnight knocked out the electricity and closed the community center building for the day.
Shortly after noon, three boys sat in barber's chairs that were set up in a shaded area between two baseball fields, with generators powering electric razors for haircuts.
Events like Saturday's are one way local organizations and service providers are trying to reach the city's Hispanic population.
Little Rock's population is nearly 7 percent Hispanic, according to U.S. Census estimates from 2017. The Hispanic population of Arkansas increased by more than 600 percent between 1990 and 2006, a study from the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service shows.
But many cities have been slow to adjust to such growth and slow to reach out to those community members because of lingering barriers such as language and trust, Fess said.
"I think the community's been trying," he said. "They're noticing that they have to meet them where they are."
Fess added that he uses events to connect with other business owners and help them better reach and serve Hispanic people.
Pat Edgerson, an intervention specialist and health educator with the Jefferson Comprehensive Care System, said the company has four health clinics in the Little Rock metropolitan area, and having a table at Saturday's event was a good way to meet people who might be looking for low-cost health care.
"People don't know that we're even there," she said.
In the health fair tent, nurses took people's blood pressure and checked blood glucose levels to screen for diabetes.
Mauricio Pimsom, 39, wore a bandage on his arm where it had been pricked for a blood test. He took his 7-year-old daughter, Johana, after hearing about the event on the radio and thinking she would enjoy the activities, he said.
Diana Soriana, 33, said it was a good way to get health information, including about sugar and junk food, to teach her two sons, ages 9 and 10. She hadn't yet decided whether the boys would be allowed to get snow cones.
Metro on 07/22/2018