Kids earn passport to being a safety superstar

Marco Zazueta, 14, was strolling around the law enforcement booths that gave away free candy, keychains, pencils and information on safety such as what to do in case someone is drowning or the importance of wearing a seatbelt.

About 25 organizations participated in the first San Luis safety event Wednesday at the San Luis Cultural Center that would teach kids the idea of safety.

"I'm here to have fun with my friends and my family," Zazueta said. "I came here to play dunkman and also learn about the police, firefighters, Marines ..."

Sgt. Luis Marquez of the San Luis Police Department, who helped push for the safety event to come to life for the city of San Luis, said he hopes it will become an annual event. About 1,000 people were expected to attend the event, Marquez said.

"The purpose of this event is to educate the kids in the community about safety, such as dealing with the risks of canals, pools or the importance of using helmets when riding bicycle. We need something like this in our community. I'd like to thank all of those who came here today and the sponsors."

In addition to the police department, sponsors were the city of San Luis and its parks and recreation department.

When kids arrived at the event, they were invited to go into the gym and inside there were more booths from different organizations. There, kids were given the "passport to being a safety superstar" card. After they visited a booth, a hole was punched into the card. After the child visited all the booths, they were able to take a dunk in the pool, enjoy free hot dogs, popcorn, slushies and drinks.

Organizations such as the local law enforcement, health department, Humane Society, Chicanos por La Causa and Niños Seguros attended the event. Niños Seguros, a Phoenix organization aimed at teaching Hispanic families in Arizona, was offering free identification cards to parents for their children.

Jennifer Cisneros, San Luis youth center coordinator, said the event received a good response. "Even on Monday we received calls from organizations who wanted to participate. We never thought this event was going to get this big. We see there is a need for events like this."

Arlete Muela, 7, said she was having a fun time. Muela said she couldn't wait to jump into the pool after she visited all the booths.

"My teacher told me about the event. I'm just playing here right now but I want to go to the pool now," she said.

Outside the gym were a helicopter flight simulator, a fire house that taught kids what to do in case they smell smoke, and a fire truck on the baseball field spraying water into the air so kids could cool off.

Adrian Tapia, 14, was waiting in line to test drive the helicopter simulator. "I'm just here to have fun!" Tapia said.

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Stephanie Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@yumasun.com or 539-6847.