On May 6, the Alhambra and Monterey Park Rotary Club hosted the 27th Annual Peppy’s Heart Walk, a fundraiser which throughout the years has raised over $145,000 for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. At the core of the event of is Joe “Peppy” Sciarra, a centenarian who has spent much of his life serving Alhambra.
“I love people. I try to see where I can be of help, whether it’s speaking at events or anything else,” shared Peppy. “I’ve got a lot of friends as I’ll be 102 this year, and they’re happy to come alongside me to support things like this. I’m so happy that I get to make people happy.”
For Peppy, the choice to support CHLA is personal as well. “They helped not only my son but so many other people, and don’t turn anyone away. When my son was four years old he had medical problems, and we were certain we would lose him. The Children’s Hospital helped out, and today he’s 70 years old.”
After lunch and a speech from Peppy, Tina Young, a professor at Brightwood presented artwork made of origami paper cranes for CHLA and Kaitlyn Hu, the president of the Interact Club at Mark Keppel High School presented $650 that she had raised for the hopsital.
