100 Youth Volunteered at the Carnival For All Children

On June 30, 2015, CPC and Assemblymember Ron Kim hosted a "Carnival For All Children" with over 1,000 children and parents in attendance and staffed by over 100 CPC volunteers, many of them high school youth. Kicking off summer activities at CPC's Queens COMPASS @ PS20, 100 youth volunteers who will be volunteering with the program throughout the summer decided to start giving back to their Flushing community right away by volunteering at the "Carnival For All Children" after their first day of summer orientation.

With the additional help of volunteers from Assemblymember Rom Kim's office, CPC COMPASS and Youth Services staff members and volunteers were able to provide a fun day of family friendly games. In response to children from a local school being excluded from the school carnival because they were unable to pay, local residents, Assemblymember Ron Kim's office, F&T Group, Send In The Clowns and DJ Rene Luna joined together with CPC to provide an event with activities for everyone.

“With support from members of the community, CPC will organize a carnival open to all children and their families regardless of their socio-economic level,” Janice Won, Interim President & CEO said prior to the event.

“For decades, organizations like the Chinese-American Planning Council and many others have worked hard to make sure all our children, regardless of their income level, have equal access to programs and fun events,” Kim said to the Queens Chronicle.  

“This is a teachable moment where we can lead by example and offer a compassionate response and a positive experience for all children and families,” Lois Lee, Director of CPC Queens COMPASS @ PS20 said. The children also took this lesson to heart. One CPC participant who performed on the day of the event was glad she can "bring happiness to the community"; another participant said "...I felt really happy on the day of the carnival. There were so many rides and food and everything was free."

Ms. Lee is also glad to be leading by example for the youth volunteers, inspiring them to give back to their community in any way they can. Former CPC participant Jason Cao said "I was in Stony Brook University for summer classes, but came back to coordinate all the volunteers for the event. I emailed friends and people on our Facebook page. I didn't know how many would come to volunteer but to our surprise, almost everyone came early in the morning!... It was a lot of work making sure the volunteers were taken care of and all the children were having fun but helping out for the carnival was well worth it because I was able to give back to CPC and the community I grew up in. My two brothers also went to CPC as children and currently volunteer for the program. My family really owes a lot to CPC.... We also thank the volunteers from Assemblyman Kim's office for participating in this event with CPC."

CPC is proud that many were able to receive the message of community service and caring for our community through this event. Be it through volunteering as a classroom monitor or assisting with games at a carnival, all efforts can make a difference.  

For more information on CPC's Queens COMPASS @ PS20 please contact Lois Lee at 718-358-7602

The Carnival For All Children was covered in the Queens Chronicle (June 18, 2015) and the Times Ledger (June 4, 2015 and July 2, 2015).