Stories From the Field: Celebrating Día de la Familia in Napa, CA
WCAHS Outreach attended the 6th annual “Día de la Familia” event in the City of Napa on Sunday July 30th, 2017. This fun-filled free street fair, which celebrates Napa Valley’s farmworkers and their families, had Aztec dancers, mariachi, raffles, face painting, music, tacos and popsicles.
Over 50 community organizations, including WCAHS, were present to provide information on services and programs available to the community. Because the entire street was blocked off, it was easy for people to interact with the various vendors and stroll through the entertaining and colorful event.
In order to participate in a raffle, people had to visit at least 24 vendor booths, which gave us an opportunity to teach them about the importance of water, shade, and rest in preventing heat illness. We brought along our colorful roulette wheel with questions related to heat illness and pesticide safety. We also had some goodies to give away to those who answered correctly, including water bottles, bandanas, cowbells, pens, thermometers, and key chains.
Being able to engage with the community is not only an important part of our program but one that means a lot to me as well. Being able to help others has always been a passion of mine, so attending an event like this was a lot of fun and very rewarding.
The event was a great opportunity for community members to learn something new about heat illness and pesticide safety since many shared that they worked in the fields. Kids also participated, and it was fun to see them try really hard to answer the roulette wheel questions correctly or bring their parents to help them so they could win a prize.
By the end of the day, we had spoken to over 250 people! Needless to say, we were quite busy for most of the event, but it was great to interact with so many families who thanked us for providing such important and life-saving information.
The best feeling at the end of the day was knowing that we not only got to know members of the Napa Valley community, but that we were also able to provide them with information to take away and share with others. I hope that we get to participate in this family friendly event next year or similar ones that allow us to share all of the wonderful work that we do at WCAHS!