At the Los Angeles County Fair, extraordinary things happen—children win stuffed animals at game booths, the band Earth, Wind, and Fire performs, and outstanding citizens are recognized. This year, Andy Shin, a junior at Diamond Bar High School, was awarded with the title of “Diamond Bar Youth Community Hero.”

Jack Tanaka, a council member of Diamond Bar as well as one of the advisors for Leo Club, nominated Shin for the award because he served over 150 hours of volunteer service in a single school year for Leo Club.

“Serving the community while having fun, it’s a part of my life already. The advisors, the Tanakas, are like my second parents. They really care about me, and all of the board members. It’s like my second family,” Shin said.

Shin stated that he volunteered because it was a passion of his. For him, volunteering is a way to not only socialize with his fellow Leo Club members but also help out the Diamond Bar community. Shin was surprised when he was notified about the award because he never expected that his hobby would lead to something as great as this.

The community hero award is given every year at LACF to local heroes from 17 cities in the Los Angeles area. Each city is assigned a day, and the nominees are acknowledged on that particular day. This program is split into three categories: seniors, adults, and youths. Nominations must be submitted by someone other than the nominee and are usually due in June.

Shin remains humble and denies that what he did was truly heroic. In his perspective, he only did what every average citizen should do: support his community as well as other people around him.

“I don’t consider myself a hero. There are lots of people who really deserve it and it feels like a luxury to me. All I did was go to events,” Shin commented.
The Leo Club vice president is ready to reach further and undertake more. For example, Shin will soon be applying for a position on a committee to help manage 36 of Leo Clubs in the surrounding area, called District 4L4.

Some of his other goals and aspirations are to work even harder this year and accumulate an even higher number of volunteer hours. Shin also hopes to become the President of Leo Club next year.