A community of helping hands gathers on Hilton Head

Hundreds of locals came together on Hilton Head Island on Sunday to support each other and the community, united under one tongue: Spanish.

The seventh annual Latinos Unidos Food Festival kept Shelter Cove Community Park crowded throughout the day, drawing people of a variety of backgrounds to raise money for Volunteers in Medicine.

Dozens of tents were set up to sell food and treats, but these weren’t vendors looking to make a profit. All of the food and drinks were donated, and all of the proceeds went to VIM.

Many of the vendors were families or friends who made a group effort to donate their time, money, energy and skills.

Maria Angeles Cruz was one of those people. She has been coming out to volunteer at the festival since its inception, she said.

“We like to be together and to help whoever needs it,” she said of Latinos as a whole. “Everybody gives a little bit, and it just multiplies.”

Angeles Cruz said the clinic is an important piece for many people on Hilton Head Island, and she wants to see it stay open and available for those who need it and even “open more doors” in the future.

The local Latino community will be “known as the community that helps,” she said.

Georgina Barientos has been volunteering with the festival for the last four years and has been impacted by the community’s generosity as a patient of the clinic.

She said she is glad to be part of a community that helps one another and can come together for fun despite being from different backgrounds.

Nari Chavira and her husband Angel Valle found a shady spot to sit and eat Sunday afternoon. Chavira said she has been coming to the festival every year.

“This is beautiful,” she said, looking around at all of the volunteers and festivalgoers and the booths with food from various countries. “Everyone’s all together,” people from many different countries, she noted, celebrating good food, spending time together and lending a hand.

She said the hard work of all the volunteers who put the festival together is appreciated by the community and crucial in supporting VIM.

Octavio Alva, Faviola Romero and their little ones, Kaylor and Aurora, were soaking up the sun while enjoying music and food on Sunday afternoon. Alva said he came to the festival last year.

Alva said his favorite parts of the festival are the music and the environment, but coming out to help support the VIM in a worthy cause.

This story was originally published September 18, 2016 at 6:48 PM with the headline "A community of helping hands gathers on Hilton Head."