Dragon Kim Foundation Announces 2024 Dragon Challenge Winner

An expressive arts project that included a two-week summer camp established in partnership with CHOC’s After Cancer Treatment Survivorship Program that introduced ambulatory cancer patients and survivors to integrated art therapy in six art forms with proceeds benefiting CHOC’s social workers was selected from six finalists as the winner of the 2024 Dragon Kim Challenge.

The Heart-to-Art project was developed by Irvine residents Ashima Sharma and Vedant Dayal, both 16 and students at the Orange County School of the Arts. They were awarded another $5,000 to continue their project.

At age 3, Ashima was diagnosed with leukemia, and less than a year later, relapsed. This summer, she had the opportunity to host workshops at the very hospital where she spent so much of her early childhood. For Vedant, the mission took on even greater significance when his aunt was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma. After her passing, he witnessed firsthand the emotional struggles his family endured.

The Dragon Challenge is the culminating event produced by the Dragon Kim Foundation, an Orange County-based nonprofit - http://dragonkimfoundation.org - whose mission is to inspire our youth to impact their communities while discovering and pursuing their passions. The public event was held at the Margaret A. Webb Theatre on the campus of the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California. The event’s presenting sponsor was COX.

The finalists were recently chosen from 56 Fellowship projects run by high school students this summer in California, Arizona and Nevada, Together, all of the projects directly impacted 16,274 individuals and indirectly impacted 1,143,433. More than 715 volunteers were empowered to contribute to the Fellows’ vision and cause.

This year marks the ninth anniversary of the Foundation, whose Fellowship program empowers high school students of all demographics and social backgrounds to go out into the world and make a difference in the lives of others, especially those who are disadvantaged.

Annually, the Fellowship program awards community service grants of up to $5,000 to the teams that enables them to create and manage a service project that will impact their community. The winners of the Dragon Challenge will receive another $5,000 to continue their project.

“This win allows us to continue filling our hearts—and those of others—by running more workshops for cancer patients, survivors, and their families,” said Ashima. “Beyond the funding, we’ll also have ongoing support from the Dragon Kim Foundation, which was instrumental to our success this year. We have big plans for Heart-to-Art as we look to not expand with our existing partners and to reach out to new organizations and hospitals.”

Vedant said, “Though Ashima and I stand on this stage today, we do so with the support and strength of our entire community—partners who took a chance on us, participants who believed in us, and volunteers who donated their time towards the cause. The day after the Dragon Challenge, Heart-to-Art hosted art workshops with Sunshine Kids at Universal Studios. This event broadened the project's scope from a regional scale to a national level. The additional $5,000 will provide Heart-to-Art the means to directly address the healthcare disparity of art therapy on a national forefront.”

This year’s distinguished judges were Jacques Ballard, Director of Field Operations for COX in Orange County, Palos Verdes and Santa Barbara; Tony Drockton, CEO and Founder of Hammitt, the American luxury accessories brand; Mayor of Irvine Farrah Khan; Carol Lee, Managing Director within Deloitte Tax’s Business Tax Services in Orange County; Vikki Shepp, Ed, D. CEO of Girl Scouts of Orange County; and Craig Thrasher, Portfolio Manager and a Senior Research Analyst at Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management in Los Angeles.

The other finalists projects that competed in the Challenge were:

Arts Healing Hearts – created by Scottsdale resident Zara Pearce, 16, of Desert Mountain High School – a non-profit developed to help spread emotional positivity and to create coping and healing mechanisms through the pathways of art. She gave people safe outlets to take out any strong emotion they may be feeling using crochet, origami, water painting, sculpting, and sketching. (Arizona)

GalaxSea Explorers – a science-focused project developed by Brandon Chang, 16, of West Ranch High School that offered space exploration opportunities, raising educational awareness about Earth's problems and promoted aerospace engineering and astronomy fields. (California) The project received an additional $5,000 from Hammitt.

Let’s Get the Ball Rolling – created by Paradise Valley resident Aashni Sahai, 14, of Saguaro High School, and Phoenix resident Yana Mamtani, 15, of BASIS Phoenix public charter school that featured a free camp where middle-schoolers engaged in projects centered around art, engineering and design, while relying on recycled materials. They created a putt-putt course, Rube Goldberg-style machine, and art exhibition. (Arizona)

Mālama – A performance-based project created by Ava Villacorta, 14, of Fairmont Preparatory Academy, Caitlyn Morales, 15, of Orange County School of the Arts, and Sofia Isabella Villacorta, 16, of Walnut High School that combined Hawaiian hula with concern for elderly loneliness and depression by hosting Polynesian arts performances in care facilities, promoting joy and community. (California)

My Mom’s Wishlist – A heartfelt project created by Valley High School students Abraham Lopez, 16, Gerardo Caravez,17, and Lorenzo Ibarra, 17, that created a resource center for Hispanic/Latina single mothers in Santa Ana which offered education, assistance, and support through governmental education programs, food supply, and therapy while also fostering community connections. (California) The project received an additional $5,000 from an anonymous donor.

For more information and to apply for the 2025 Dragon Fellowship, visit http://dragonkimfoundation.org or call (949) 229 –1396.

To learn more about sponsorships, contact Dragon Kim Foundation Co-founder and Board Chair Daniel Kim at development@dragonkimfoundation.org

The Fellowship was founded in honor of the late Dragon Kim, a talented young musician, athlete, and scholar who wanted to help others, and has become a seedbed for the next generation of creative thinkers and entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in their communities.

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About the Dragon Kim Foundation

The Dragon Kim Foundation was established in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by Grace and Daniel Kim to honor the memory of their late son Dragon Kim, who had been attending the Orange County School of the Arts. The mission of the Dragon Kim Foundation is to inspire our youth to impact their communities while discovering and pursuing their passions. Visit the website at http://dragonkimfoundation.org.