Tony

On a weekday afternoon in KYCC’s Treehouse, Head Volunteer Antonio “Tony” Rhee is testing rockets. Small groups of middle school students, armed with duct tape and glue, vie for his attention in the “Rocket Launchers” workshop that Tony developed and implemented.

Born in Buenos Aires, Rhee emigrated to the U.S. with his mother when he was eight years old. He started volunteering as a tutor at KYCC’s Crossroads Middle School Program (MSP) when he was a freshman in high school. With his exceptional dedication and work ethic, Tony helped KYCC win a $25,000 HALO Award from The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation. The highly competitive award is granted to both a nonprofit organization and a winning volunteer to recognize those who go “above and beyond” to promote the betterment of their communities.

“I was told that KYCC was looking for a high school volunteer who would be an older sibling to the middle school students,” Tony recalls. “I really took that to heart. Now I’m a second-year student at UCLA and a DREAMer. I plan to major in psychology and pursue the ‘helping’ profession.”