Hilton Head Latinos emerge from shadows to sing, dance, eat — and give back

Meet Miriam Hernandez of Bluffton.

She is a native of Guatemala. She moved to Hilton Head Island from New Jersey in 1998. Her husband has a small construction company, and she is a full-time mother. One child is in elementary school, one in high school, one in college and one has a degree from the University of South Carolina Beaufort.

Meet Nena Balzola of Hilton Head.

She is a native of Venezuela. She moved to Hilton Head 23 years ago. She is office manager at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic on Hilton Head. One of her two daughters graduated from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Meet Lola Arevalo of Hilton Head.

She is a native of Tabasco, Mexico. She has been a Hilton Head islander for a decade. She works in golf course maintenance at Port Royal Plantation in the mornings and in a Latin food store in the afternoon.

They are the driving force behind the Latinos Unidos Food Festival to be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Sunday at Shelter Cove Community Park on Hilton Head.

It is a fundraiser for VIM, the 23-year-old nonprofit that uses 600 volunteers to provide medical care for anyone who lives or works on Hilton Head or Daufuskie islands and is within 200 percent of the national poverty level.

But the seventh annual Latino food festival is much more than a fundraiser.

It brings the Latino community out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

Here, they go beyond being the dependable pillar of the workforce to be traditional Hilton Head islanders — volunteers giving back, paying it forward.

My experience over the past two decades is that the booming Latino population here keeps its head down, its eyes down and minds its own business. We pass quietly in the aisles of Bi-Lo. I thank them for being so professional in replacing the roof or installing new flooring.

This faceless population, which now forms the majority in several southern Beaufort County schools and makes up at least 11 percent of the county’s population, is using food, music and dance to show its face.

“This way, they can be volunteers like the many volunteers who have helped them,” Balzola said.

It helps unite, at least for a day, a diverse Latino community.

And it can help unite the larger, diverse community we have become, Balzola said.

Latinos Unidos is not a formal organization. It started when Hernandez wanted to help someone else. Her nephew in Guatemala needed a kidney transplant. She and some friends raised money in small ways, like garage sales. A food festival at Jarvis Creek Park became part of it.

When her 12-year-old nephew died, the Lowcountry group had more than $5,000 left over. They talked about giving it to help kids at the St. Jude Research Hospital. But they decided to give every penny to VIM instead. And they decided to keep the food festival going, and last year VIM got involved. It was the first festival in the revamped Shelter Cove park. It raised $22,819 to help VIM meet its annual need of about $2 million, with none of it coming from the government.

This year, with the number of booths at the festival jumping to 27, Latinos Unidos hopes to raise much more.

Latinos have helped VIM from the beginning. Balzola said Latino patients take turns to provide all its landscaping and cleaning services.

The three women sat in a conference room with me Thursday morning, a painting and photograph of VIM founder Dr. Jack McConnell on the wall. They talked about Latino involvement in the community.

They said it’s not an excuse, but Latinos here tend to be younger, with full-time jobs and children. It’s hard to get involved under those circumstances, not to mention the language and cultural challenges.

But the festival means 350 Latinos can do what they’ve seen so many other people doing here — volunteering.

Balzola said, “No matter what they give, it is important, whether it is $1 or $100 or one pound of meat or 100 pounds of meat.”

Mexico will have the greatest presence at the festival, but other nations represented will include Colombia, Honduras, Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela and El Salvador.

Tacos of all kinds and enchiladas may be the most common food, the women said, but there will also be fresh fruit juices and chamoyadas — shaved ice with fruit juice.

Latino folklore will be on stage. A local group called Quetzalcoatl — women dancing in colorful dresses — will swing to the the music of a local band, El Trueno. Samba dancers from Charleston will perform.

A deejay, children’s games, and hamburgers will also be offered. The suggested donation for adults is $3 at the gate, and the food servings are about $2 or $3 each.

“We are a part of this place, this country,” Hernandez said. “This is for us to all be together. It is for our heart.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Hilton Head Latinos emerge from shadows to sing, dance, eat — and give back."