SMELTERVILLE — The 14th annual Kids Health Fair, hosted by Shoshone Medical Center, is this weekend.

The fair is a free-to-attend event that focuses on educating children and their families on health care, discovering community resources, and, most importantly, having fun. This year’s theme is tie-dye, so expect to get a little groovy as the whole family can enjoy games, snacks and prizes, as well as visit booths with local organizations.

One of the annual highlights of this event is providing free new or gently-used coats to children who need them, with past years providing coats to around 250-300 local youth as the weather cools.

“We love being a part of the Kids Health Fair because it’s a great way to bring the community together,” said Rachel Meyer, an employee with Mountain Valley of Cascadia. She continued laughing, “We are going to have a cotton candy booth, which I know isn’t very healthy. But it is fun.”

Everything in moderation, Rachel.

Community groups providing resources include educational resources like Shoshone Head Start, Community Library Network in Pinehurst and Mountain States Early Head Start. Safety and first responders like Shoshone County Sheriff's Office, Kellogg Police Department and Shoshone Fire Protection District No. 1 will provide children and their families with resources.

This is the first time in two years that event-goers have been able to attend in person, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the event from happening. But that didn’t stop them from helping the community. In 2020, SMC and the SMC Foundation teamed up and were able to still provide between 200-300 coats to families in the three local school districts.

Last year’s fair was scheduled to be in person, yet was changed to a drive-through format as positive cases once again began to increase. Event-goers would stay in their cars, slowly passing the different booths and collecting information. SMC was able to give away more than 200 coats last year.

The Kids Health Fair is this Saturday, Sept. 24 at the SMC Health and Wellness Center Outdoor Track, 858 Commerce Drive, Smelterville, taking place between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.