Many children love the holidays. The closer Christmas Day gets, the more excited children get, thinking of what they will find wrapped inside those boxes. Some children may be disappointed after not finding the toy they wanted, but some will not receive gifts at all.
The people of Hispanic Student Business Association at Cal State Long Beach will be bringing Christmas to underprivileged children whose families cannot afford to buy them presents.
HSBA is hosting their annual Para Los Niños, or “For the Children,” youth outreach event Dec. 12 to provide less fortunate children with some holiday spirit.
“The best thing [about the event] is helping the children, knowing that most of the kids at school probably won’t have a toy to open in Christmas,” said HSBA President Monica Vargas, “but now they will.”
The funding for the event comes from donations from alumni and corporate sponsors, and HSBA also organised a fundraising event last Saturday successfully raising $600 and also collecting toys for donation.
According to Vargas, the event has been organized every year since the HSBA was founded in 1981. Vargas has been a part of the HSBA, a nonprofit student organization founded to promote academics and professionalism, for four years.
“We try to foster academic networking, professional development and community service,” Vargas said. “HSBA is known as a social organization, and at the same time we try to help our community. We do multiple community service events but this is one of our biggest ones.”
Erick Verduzco-Vega is a CSULB alumnus and local business owner who said he is lucky to be able to give back to the community by donating for this event.
“As a business owner in Long Beach, I understand the significance of being helped,” he said in an e-mail. “Whether it’s financially, by being fed or getting a toy, we all need help at some point in our lives.”
Vargas said the event is fulfilling for everyone — for the people who donated, the organizers and especially the children.
“I have attended this event, and contributed every year. When I was a student and couldn’t give money, I donated my time. Now that I’m able to contribute monetarily, I do so and encourage my peers to do the same,” Verduzco-Vega said. “My business partners and I have agreed to donate a percentage of our revenues to a children’s charity every year. This year, it will be Para Los Niños.”
The event will provide gifts for approximately 140 kindergarteners from ages 4 to 6. The event will be Dec. 12 at Starr King Elementary School from 10 a.m. to noon. There will be a Christmas tree, playground games, activities, piñatas, food and pictures with a special guest: Santa Claus.