Staging additional festive activities in celebration of the Lunar New Year to attract a broad audience to Chinatown during the 70’s, a group of volunteers focused on an event which could draw a large and diverse audience to Chinatown. Starting humbly with a 10K Run, Firecracker10k.org  has evolved 46+ years later, to host the largest Lunar New Year Run, Walk, Cycling and Dog Walk event in the United States. The annual event now attracts over 10,000 spectators and 9,000 participants over a two-day period in celebration of the Chinese Lunar holiday. Proceeds from the annual event are donated back to the Chinatown and surrounding communities.  

Community-based organizations and schools receiving Firecracker donations have created unique programs such as raising awareness of physical fitness and healthy lifestyles for seniors and youth.  One project helped launch the CSULA Food Justice program through the creation of culturally relevant gardens where young children learned to grow their own fruits and vegetables within a concrete urban landscape. Firecracker donations have been used to fund school field trips, launch a fine arts program in an under served elementary school and many activities to support the health and physical fitness of our youth.   Firecracker continues to be an all-volunteer organization and your participation in our annual Firecracker event will help fund future programs for our diverse communities.

Net proceeds from the event are reinvested into the community: Castelar Street Elementary School, Ann Street Elementary School, Logan Street Elementary School, Solano Avenue Elementary School, Elysian Heights Elementary School, Chinese Confucius Temple School, Lincoln Heights Tutorial Program, Lincoln Heights Education Project, Inc., Chinatown Service Center, Alpine Recreation Center, Central City Action Committee, Home Dog LA, Races for Rescue, North Central Animal Shelter, Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue, Active SGV, Bicycle Angels, Friends and Alumni of Castelar Elementary School, Friends of the Chinatown Library, Chinatown Teen Post, Chinatown Senior Citizens Service Center, Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker Fund, Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, Chinese Family History Group of Southern California, UCLA Asian American Tutorial Project, CSULA Chinese American Oral History Project, CSULA Asian American Studies Program, KIPP Academy of Opportunity, Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, Visual Communications, API Forward Movement, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, San Gabriel Educational Foundation, United Cambodian Community, Mutual Aid Fund of the Southeast Asian Community Alliance, Little Tokyo Service Center, Angel City Sports are organizations that have been recipients of funds raised by the Firecracker Events.

The Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker Run Committee is a 501(C)(3) tax exempt organization. Tax ID 95-4440752.