HAHIRA – When parents arrived to pick up their children from Head Start last week, they were met by visitors offering community resources.

Georgia Home Visiting hosted the resource festival at the Hahira Head Start to connect residents with local agencies.

Though Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, 90Works, Valdosta City Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody and Georgia Home Visiting were vendors, the kids gravitated to the Hahira Fire Department’s ladder truck.

Johnny Rook, 4, was one of the children. Eating a lollipop, Johnny interacted with firefighters as they showed him their truck.

His mom, Eliza Rook, said festivals such as the one hosted Friday can be a relief for people in need of assistance.

“I feel like it’s very kind and very sweet of them to come out here, especially I think in this time,” she said. “People are in need of help a lot and a lot of times they don’t even know where to go, and sometimes, people get overwhelmed.”

Rickita Williams, Georgia Home Visiting program coordinator, said the organization wanted to bring resources to people through the festival, its third one.

Georgia Home Visiting helps families with children newborn up to 5 years old. They help the children reach milestones and prepare them for school.

“It was very important that we reached out to our community partners (so we’re) able to come together as a community to be able to get these resources for our families,” Williams said.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a free program that mails books to children up to 5 years old in Lowndes County while 90Works is a program that benefits veterans, the homeless community and people who have suffered abuse.

Lashae Jones, center supervisor at Hahira Head Start, said she saw a need among the families at Head Start and she wanted to help them.

“It’s just a difficult time for everyone and a lot of parents are having emotional issues with the change of the pandemic,” she said. “It’s just about the community helping each other.”

Organizers are planning the Hispanic Resource Festival, 5:30-7 p.m., Feb. 25, at the Migrant Farmworkers Clinic, 2186 J. Frank Culpepper Road, Lake Park.

“I’m hoping that the more we do these events, the bigger they can grow and the more community resources can be reached to the families that need them the most,” Williams said.