December 2021

KYCC Celebrates its Annual Virtual Benefit Concert

On Thursday, November 18, 2021, KYCC presented its 20th Annual Benefit Concert, KOREATOWN STANDS Volume II: COVID-19 Recovery and Stop Asian Hate. The concert was held virtually and streamed live on KYCC’s Youtube channel. Read more

Vaccination Program Offers In-Language Assistance for Seniors

Since February 2021, with the help of bilingual volunteers like Sue Park and Sarah Jho, KYCC’s vaccination program has provided in-language support and public health education in Spanish, Korean, and English to over 1,000 Koreatown community members. Read more

KYCC celebrates the historic vote by the LA City Council to unify Koreatown in a single council district. 

“On a 13-0 vote, council members approved a redistricting ordinance that places Koreatown in a single council district…”

KYCC celebrates the historic vote by the LA City Council to unify Koreatown in a single council district. We are grateful to all of our partners on the Koreatown Redistricting Task Force, the Koreatown community, LA City Council President Nury Martinez, Office of Council District 10 for the tremendous support throughout the redistricting process. Read more

City of LA’s Ready Your Neighborhood Emergency Management Program

Check out the City of LA’s Ready Your LA Neighborhood (RYLAN) Program. RYLAN is designed to help you, your family, and your neighborhood prepare for disaster. Learn about tools to prepare and organize your neighborhood to respond together after a disaster to reduce injuries, protect your property and the environment, and most importantly, save lives. Visit @readyla or readyla.org for more information. 

Dashain

Written by: Upasana Pandey

Among all the festivals in Nepal, Dashain is the most celebrated, longest, and biggest festival. It is so big and grand that all the government organizations, private businesses, schools, and universities are closed for 15 days. In fact, some organizations, especially schools and universities, often choose to close for almost one month. Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, is usually crowded with people but around Dashain time, the city is usually extremely peaceful because people, who are living in Kathmandu for work and other reasons, travel to their homes to meet their families and relatives. 

Dashain falls in late September and early October, usually the beginning of the Autumn season, just around harvest time. It is a 15 day long festival that starts from the first day of the bright lunar fortnight and ends on the full moon day. On the first day (Ghatasthapana), every household plants Jamara (barley seeds), an essential element for the Tika ceremony, that occurs on the tenth day of the festival. For the first nine days of Dashain, we worship goddesses Durga and Mahakali (Feminine version of energy). The tenth day of Dashain, known as Vijaya Dashami (also known as the Tika ceremony), is the most auspicious day of the festival. On this day, family members put Tika (a mixture of rice, yogurt, and red color) and Jamara (the barley grass) on each other. Usually, elder members put tika on younger members, and give money and gifts along with their blessings. 

Dashain is the celebration of good triumphing over evil. So, for the next five days, we extensively celebrate Dashain by gathering, feasting, gambling, playing swing and kites. The vibes around the Dashain time are truly miraculous. My favorite part of this festival are family gatherings and receiving blessings from my elders. I love putting red tika on my forehead and I love sharing happiness with my family. I am thankful that this year I was able to share the gesture of Dashain with my KYCC family. Indeed, a true Dashain blessing!

Birthdays and KYCC Anniversaries