A fun time was had by all at Orange County’s 12th annual Moon Festival Banquet on October 4 held at the Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant in Artesia. To start off the event, families played a game in which every guest had a picture of their Chinese zodiac animal pinned to their back, and children ran about the large dining room trying to count up all the roosters, rats, dragons, etc. to win the grand prize, a giant stuffed panda. Perhaps it was predictable that pigs represented the largest group that turned out for the banquet, but there was a scattering of every type of animal, and kids had a great time trying to count them all up.

At its 18th Annual Image Awards on October 2, OCA-Greater Los Angeles bestowed its Community Service Award to out-going FCC president Jeri Okamoto Floyd.  The award honors Jeri’s leadership in guiding FCC–Los Angeles from a fledgling chapter to a thriving nonprofit charitable organization. Jeri helped integrate the FCC adoption community with the broader Asian Pacific American community by establishing cultural interactive programs such as the award-winning FCC-SoCal/China Care Bruins Buddy Program, which pairs FCC kids (6 to teens) with UCLA student mentors for monthly activities.

The FCC-Socal annual summer picnic took place Saturday, June 13th and was a great success despite a light shower early in the day. The event took place in Alhambra at the Picnic Pavilion of the Almansor Park. We were joined by friends from OCA and graced with the presence of the Miss Chinatown 2009 Court.

There were a lot of games and activities for the kids. The donut eating contest made for some great pictures. Other games included a water balloon toss and a tug-o-war. Activities included arts and crafts, tatoos, and frisbee. The food that everyone brought was plentiful and delicious.

The 2ND Annual FCC Heritage Day was held Sunday, April 26 on the grounds of Vista Del Mar. An enthusiastic group of volunteers made the entire day run smoothly and provided a very relaxing social event for both kids and parents. It was great for members to catch up with dear friends and make some new ones while the kids were making their connections too.

FCC-SoCal's Jeri Okamoto Floyd and Susan Robinson attended the Organization of Chinese Americans National Convention in Washington, D.C., held July 31 through August 3, and facilitated the 2nd Annual FCC/OCA Roundtable which brought together leaders from around the country to discuss "Raising Children in a Multicultural Family."

On August 20, 2008, "Families with Children from China" flashed across the giant scoreboard screen at Dodger Stadium. On its annual Chinese American Community Night, the Dodgers recognized representatives from the Chinese American community including FCC-SoCal, the Organization of Chinese Americans, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and other community leaders.