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William Steinmetz Park in Hacienda Heights, Los Angeles County, hosted the "Back to School Community Night" on August 3, 2024. Venerable Hui Cheng from Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple led a team of 16 volunteers from the Social Education & Outreach Department, Three Acts of Goodness (TAG) School, and the Buddha’s Light International Association Los Angeles Chapter (BLIA LA). They contributed by offering school supplies and organizing games infused with the spirit of TAG, bringing joy, peace, and reassurance to nearly a thousand attendees as they prepared for the new school year.
Venerable Hui Cheng expressed gratitude to the event organizers, the First District Supervisor’s Office of Los Angeles County, and the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department. He highlighted that Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the founder of Fo Guang Shan Monastery, emphasized "Cultivating talent through education" as one of the four core objectives of Humanistic Buddhism. Engaging with the community through TAG and providing school supplies on the eve of the new school year held deep significance.
In addition to distributing backpacks and gift cards for school supplies, the event featured live band performances, raffles, free food trucks, face painting, large jumpers, and children’s group dance performances that earned enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
The Hsi Lai Temple volunteers, with cheerful smiles, handed out Buddhism in Every Step English booklets, along with notebooks, pencils, and highlighters. Many attendees expressed interest in Hsi Lai School and TAG School, requesting brochures for more information.
Visitors wrote their wishes on Hsi Lai Wish Cards and hung them on the TAG Tree of Hope, with hopes for health, happiness, joy, and diligent learning. The "TAG Word Treasure Hunt" invited parents and children to find words like "Hope," "Care," and "Sharing." Mindfulness coloring sheets featured calming phrases like "Calm body, Quiet mind" and "Breathe in, Breathe out," while TAG coloring pages included illustrated excerpts from Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s work Humble Table, Wise Fare, planting the seeds of the Three Acts of Goodness.
Parent-child volunteers Hong Bai and her daughter Erika Hsieh guided children in creating crafts, painting, and decorating recycled plastic drink lids, transforming them into sparkling sun catchers swaying in the wind. Hong Bai noted that these handmade crafts blessed the children with bright and promising futures.
Another team of parent-child volunteers, Sean Polim, Kristiana Tho, and their son Max Polim, managed the Connect Four and ring toss games. The ring toss booth was handmade by volunteer Cassandra Garcia’s father, Victor Garcia. Cassandra also teamed up with friends to create a brightly colored standee featuring Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s blessing words, "May You Be Free as Cloud and Water, Auspicious and Joyful," designed to improve the chances of rings landing in the target area, sparking continuous laughter, applause, and cheers from the crowd.
(Photos by Jonathan Thang)
