As part of a season long community partnership with Taller Puertorriqueño, Inc. (also know as Taller), the Kimmel Cultural Campus served as a donation site for a holiday toy drive to support their annual Three Kings Celebration!
The Three Kings Celebration (known in Spanish as El Día de Reyes) is a special day for the Latin world and considered the height of the Christmas season. The annual tradition recreates the arrival of the three kings – Gaspar, Melchoir, and Balthasar – who deliver gifts to the newly born Christ Child. The event celebration usually includes music, dancing, candy, and gifts for every child. In Puerto Rican tradition, children also collect hay, straw, or grass and place it in a small box under the beds for the kings, as a gesture of food for their horses/camels.
Donations from the toy drive were handed out to children at Taller Puertorriqueño in a special drive-through event this year, keeping in line with current health & safety measures. Families had the option to drive or walk to stations with candy, music, and (most importantly) a gift and photo opportunity with the Three Kings.
See below for photos from the event that include two of our own Kimmel Cultural Campus employees, Phil Sumpter and Adrian Rosas of our Community Engagement team, participating as two of the kings!
The three kings pose with Taller’s Education Director Marilyn Rodriguez
A box of straw and a lovely drawing brought to the kings!
The team at Taller pose with the three kings for a photo after a successful celebration!
Taller Puertorriqueño is a fellow Philadelphia non-profit that seeks to preserve, develop, and promote Puerto Rican arts and culture. The partnership allows us to join forces with an organization that shares our values and is similarly dedicated to shape young minds through the arts. We are thrilled to collaborate with such an essential organization whose programming strives to help young people embrace their cultural heritage. Learn more about our season-long partnership with Taller here.