The upcoming spooky season always goes hand in hand with the annual Harvest Festival held at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, which took place from October 3 to 5 and was a huge hit this time around, with more and more people each day. The church had a variety of events and attractions, including live music, carnival games, rides, carnival foods, and many more. This event has become a tradition for many residents of Chino Hills. Not only were the booth leaders and others a huge help in making this festival a success, but the constant volunteers working around the clock were also a huge help.
Many students from Ayala High School and other areas helped out. Sophomores Vanessa Lee, Kaelyn Denao, and Yehyeon “Junior” Lim were among the few people out of many, many other volunteers who contributed their time to help everyone else’s time be enjoyable throughout the three days.
Lee, who worked at the game booths Lifebuoy and the dime toss, had an amazing time not only hanging out at the festival but also helping others have a fun time.
“I think the festival was a great success. People were able to have a good time while helping support the church through games, food, and rides,” Lee said.
This year’s festival felt like a bigger hit than last year, with more people attending even on the very last day. Many volunteers worked around the clock and were constantly switched out to help each station run smoothly. Though the game booths needed help with cleanup post-festival, many eager volunteers offered to clean up the festival to make it as neat as possible, such as by taking out trash once it got full.
Lim had been one of the many who helped with this cleaning to make it pleasant for everyone enjoying the festival.
“I chose to work for cleaning and other facilities because I wanted to help everyone enjoy their time at the Harvest Festival,” said Lim. “I enjoyed it because I was able to walk around and see people while also being helpful to the community by cleaning trash as I went around and just being of support to the people.”
Many volunteers were needed to help this festival run smoothly, but they signed up for certain time slots so they could also have fun and be a part of the festival while enjoying the festivities.
“There was so much good energy there, and I got egged a few times, but overall it was great,” said Denao. “I loved how I was able to just enjoy the festivities outside of working at a booth.”
Overall, this festival was a huge success thanks to all the booth leaders, coordinators, and especially the volunteers. People who want to volunteer and help out the community next year should definitely sign up–especially with a friend.
“I would tell them to volunteer with at least one or two friends because otherwise it could get pretty boring and not so fun to work,” Lim said.
