For 22 years and counting, area residents have gathered on Kling Street between Ledge Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard each December to create festive seasonal memories in support of a worthy cause. Launched in 2002 by a small group of young people who held a bake sale so they could buy toys to cheer up hospitalized children during the holidays, Kling Street Kids has grown into an annual street fair and silent auction organized by a team of neighborhood families to benefit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Featuring tasty treats, live music, face painting, pony rides, tons of snow for sledding and heaps of holiday cheer, it remains a beloved tradition as it continues to grow and evolve through the years, supported by neighbors, friends and local businesses.
The 2025 Kling Street Kids event on December 7 included some very special guests: 9-year-old Elliott and his family, who described the lifesaving treatment he received at CHLA at age 2. Diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and experiencing heart failure, he spent three months in the hospital attached to a ventricular assist device called the Berlin Heart until finally receiving a successful heart transplant. “This is the first time we’ve actually had a patient and a family come and tell their stories of how the hospital helped them,” Kling Street Kids co-chair Laura Scuticchio shares. “It was an incredible story and a powerful moment!” Two representatives from CHLA, Annie Cornforth and Dawn Wilcox, were also on hand to provide information about the hospital’s work and hand out some fun swag to the kids.
With about 1,500 attendees, the event raised approximately $38,000 that day — and additional personal donations, corporate sponsorships and a matching fund offered by CHLA brought the charitable grand total to roughly $165,800. “It was a fantastic year!” Scuticchio says.