Colton, CA— On Saturday November 4th, Colton High School held the 5th annual Aristrong event from 9am-5pm.
The Aristrong Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Chris and Nikki Villalobos, that focuses on helping and spreading awareness to the community about cancer research and supporting families in need.
The organization began due to the founder’s daughter Arianna Villalobos being diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer, before she passed she told her parents she wanted to support people in need. “She had a vision of us, helping people in the community. She’s not here herself to do that so that’s why I’m here because this is why we’re all here because we’re doing her vision.” says Arianna’s grandmother Hope Villalobos.
The event hosts a Car Show and Kickball tournament in support of funding. The winners of the Kickball Tournament were “Foot to Balls,” who won Nickelodeon Pizza along with customized water bottles while the 10 winners of the Car Show received Aristrong plaques.
This year the event hosted over 40 vendors. Josh Gomez, a barber, was giving free haircuts at his booth and he has been attending Aristrong since its first year.
Aristrong vendor Roseanne attended the event because “Well, I’m actually nearing retirement and I don’t want to be bored when I’m retired and I’d like to do something good for the community and for myself. I started with Loma Linda Children’s Cancer Foundation and then Aristrong. I happen to know the family and I’m like that’s a good foundation to volunteer for. So that’s why I decided to do it.”
From 10am through 4:15pm, nine performances were showcased throughout the event, including: Breaking Free Worship, II of Us, Blue Haze, Hillbilly Wolves, Elvie Cadena, Delaney and Jaymes, Micayla Rivera, Brittany Nicole, MKV, and the Avila Brothers. There were also DJs performing including KCAL 96.7 Rocks! And DJ Taco.
