The L.A. Cash for College financial aid awareness season kicked off with UNITE-LA's in-person L.A. Cash for College: College and Career Fair, ensuring students from historically marginalized communities in the L.A. area have access to the resources and support needed to pursue their college and career dreams. The event included financial literacy workshops, college and career readiness workshops, FAFSA and CADAA completion workshops, a financial aid completion lab, and a resource fair featuring colleges, universities and local community-based organizations.

With support from our partners at the California Student Aid Commission, Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Community College District and NBC4, we greeted students and parents with a Financial Aid Awareness ceremony and were joined on stage by our partners from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as we culminated the day with the presentation of $15,000 in scholarships to students in attendance during our Dollars for Scholars ceremony in honor of Cash for College legacy champions, Dr. Alma Salazar and Gary Toebben. Also, thanks to our partners at Echoes of Hope, we provided 1,500 meals from Billionaire Burger Boyz to students and families in attendance and kept attendees hydrated with 56 cases of bottled water donated by the Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

The impact of the day stretches far beyond our time on campus, but here's a brief recap of the day's event:

• More than 1,000 students and families in attendance
• 640 student scholarship applications received
• 10, $1,500 in scholarships awarded to students
• 20+ buses were funded to provide transportation to students and families from the community
• Held 10 Financial Aid and College & Career Readiness Workshops, including four Future Forward career panels with professionals from arts media and entertainment, cleantech, health care and technology
• A supportive group of volunteers to help ensure a positive experience for students and families
• Two staged ceremonies with leading partners who commented it was an "amazing day!"
• Awarded three students with grand door prizes – each received a backpack packed with an HP laptop, Beats headphones and a $250 Delta Airlines travel voucher
• Exciting door prizes raffled for volunteers, including tickets to the Tournament of Roses Parade, The Broad Museum, Hollywood Wax Museum, Natural History Museum, Pasadena Playhouse, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios, among others
• Beautifully designed t-shirts to ensure the team was well coordinated and suited for the day

Thanks to all who supported, we proved that we are better together and our students are better prepared to pursue college and careers because of the experiences we provided during Saturday’s L.A. Cash for College: College and Career Fair.