TEXARKANA, Ark. - Faith Assembly of God Church became a central collection point Saturday morning for more then 1,000 residents seeking health screening services, as well as food and school supplies for their kids.
Ongoing COVID-19 concerns didn't slow a steady stream of cars that were guided through carefully placed traffic lines for the first two hours of the four-hour Eighth Annual Hillier Community Health Fair for 2020.
The fair, so named in honor of the late College Hill Elementary School Principal Marguerite Hillier, started in 2013, initially attracting about 1,100 visitors, before eventually swelling to as many as 3,500 in recent years, said Faith Assembly of God Pastor Brian McDonald.
"Eight years ago, we came up with this idea and we met with Texarkana School District Superintendent Dr. Becky Kelser to see if we could distribute information and advertising flyers to the school kids, to take home and let everyone know about the first health fair we were planning," McDonald said. "Marguerite Hillier soon became the driving force for this community health fair."
Since that first fair, the church continues to finance the event with $20,000 a year to buy school supplies and backpacks not only for TASD kids; the church has also partnered with school districts from Foreman, Ashdown and Fouke, Arkansas, as well as Liberty-Eylau-Independent School District and Hooks ISD on the Texas side.
"Each year, our health fair also has games, prizes and bounce houses for the kids," McDonald said. "The fair usually happens the first Saturday in August to help the kids prepare for school."
More important, McDonald said the fair is conducted to give children vision, dental and hearing checks as well as haircuts, while adults get blood pressure checks and boxes of food supplies containing cheese, apples, plums, rice and assorted canned soups and vegetables.
While the COVID-19 circumstance forced much of the fair to be a drive-through operation Saturday, McDonald said he's hoping to get back to the normal fair process of having patrons being able to come inside the church's cool, air-conditioned buildings next year.