By Daniel Choi
Bridge Historian
On Dec. 16, KYCC held its 24th Annual Holiday Carnival at the Leo Politi Elementary School in Koreatown. Over 2,500 children and their families, as well as 300 volunteers, attended this joyous end-of-year celebration, which included a free holiday toy giveaway.
BRIDGE, a KYCC program that recruits and trains high school students for tutoring younger peers, volunteered throughout the day. BRIDGE volunteers were stationed in various booths and activity tables throughout the carnival, ranging from inflatables to games, all of which were free to the children who attended the event. Games included miniature bowling, dart throwing, basketball, and soccer.
As a tradition, KYCC wraps and distributes toys to underprivileged children in the community. BRIDGE volunteers became Santa’s Elves for two weeks before the Holiday Carnival and took part in wrapping gifts in preparation for the event. They played a big role at the event as well, passing out 2,400 wrapped gifts to the hundreds of children lined up for their presents.
As an effort to raise funds for the program, BRIDGE Treasurers Kevin Park, 16, and Dagvadorj Jargalsaikan, 17, set up a snack booth that sold chips and drinks to visitors. A total of $600 was raised from this booth, which was allocated as funds for social gatherings, volunteer training, and recruitment efforts.
“I appreciate all the volunteers who came to help out at the Holiday Carnival,” Volunteer Manager Andrew Chung, 16, commented, “Especially the ones who had all-day shifts.”
KYCC received nearly $30,000 in donations, including thousands of toys from our toy drive. Over $6,500 of that amount came from our Giving Tuesday crowdfunding campaign, in which all of the proceeds went towards purchasing more toys for our young carnival attendees.
Special thanks to our Title Sponsor SoCalGas, our Game Sponsor CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Entertainment Sponsor Airbnb, Toy Sponsors US Bank and Jamison Services, Food and Beverage Sponsor Newport Partners, Arts & Crafts Sponsor CBB Bank, and Booth Sponsor Hyundai Motors for helping us put on an incredible event for our Koreatown community.
