Dragon Kim Foundation Announces Life Savers Phoenix as the 2025 Dragon Challenge Winning Team

Life Savers Phoenix, a free program conducted in the Phoenix, Arizona area that equipped under-resourced children aged 8-12 with essential life-saving skills, was selected from seven finalists as the winner of the 2025 Dragon Kim Foundations’ Dragon Challenge.

The winning team was the brainchild Dragon Kim Foundation Fellows Sanath Seetharam, Sahil Bagai, and Suhaan Sharma, all of Catholic school Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, who put their certified life-saving training to work teaching CPR, AED use, first aid, choking response, bleeding control, and other emergency preparedness procedures, all with hands-on training.

“Being part of the Dragon Kim Fellowship program has been an incredible learning experience,” said Bagai. “The journey leading up to the Challenge was amazing, as it taught me organizational and learnership skills. I feel grateful and honored to win the Challenge - definitely an experience and an achievement that I will cherish forever. Thank you to the Foundation for granting another $5,000.”

“Winning the competition came as a surprise to me,” said Sharma. “I didn’t think that we would win anything, let alone the $5,000. But as I was up there right after they announced the winner, I realized how much this meant to me. It was a recognition of my hard work and passion that I put into this project. The grant money will let us expand the mission we are so passionate about.”

“Winning the Challenge grant has been monumentally validating for myself and my teammates,” said Seetharam. “We faced a lot of roadblocks, rejections and miscommunication along the way, so overcoming those hurdles and being selected out of so many other amazing projects speaks to how much we’ve grown. I was honestly in shock with excitement as I was not expecting to win, and I am extremely grateful to the Foundation for this opportunity.”

The Dragon Challenge is the culminating event produced by the Dragon Kim Foundation, an Orange County-based nonprofit - http://dragonkimfoundation.org - whose mission is to inspire our youth to impact their communities while discovering and pursuing their passions. The public event was held at Symphony Hall on the campus of the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California. The event’s presenting sponsor was COX.

The finalists were recently chosen from 63 Fellowship projects run by high school students this summer in California, Arizona and Nevada, Together, all of the projects directly impacted 56,260 individuals and indirectly impacted seven million. More than 700 volunteers gave nearly 40,000 hours of service time to contribute to the Fellows’ vision and cause.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Foundation, whose Fellowship program empowers high school students of all demographics and social backgrounds to go out into the world and make a difference in the lives of others, especially those who are disadvantaged.

Annually, the Fellowship program awards community service grants of up to $5,000 to the teams that enables them to create and manage a service project that will impact their community. The winners of the Dragon Challenge will receive another $5,000 to continue their project.

This year’s distinguished judges were Sherry L.K. Main, vice chancellor for strategic communications & public affairs at the University of California, Irvine; Seema Shah, Groundswell’s co-director of Community Partnerships; City of Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung; and retired human resources professional and entrepreneur Colleen Gomez, who is now an independent wholesale diamond and jewelry dealer.

The other finalists projects that competed in the Challenge were:

Beyond the Stage empowered disadvantaged youth in California’s underfunded schools through theater workshops that enhanced literacy, creativity, and confidence. Fellows are Sophie Hsu and Aya Hanai of Legacy Magnet Academy.

Glean on Me hosted hands-on workshops where middle and high school student volunteers harvested fruit trees from registered properties in the San Gabriel Valley area to be donated to local food banks, shelters, and organizations. Fellow is Apollo Wong of Polytechnic School.

Morality Matters is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting morally conscious decision-making and empowering the next generation through ethics education. Fellow is Asmi Aggarwal of Orange County School of the Arts.

Note by Note's goal was to create strong, lifelong connections by igniting a passion for singing and music in visually impaired students. Fellows are Lubaina Habib and Aleena Khan of Orange County School of the Arts.

TechTies achieved its mission by teaching senior citizens about social media platforms by going to senior centers and daycare centers. Fellows are Raina Kim of Brea Olinda High School, Arah Lee of Orange County School of the Arts, and Nathan Lee of Troy High School.

Wise and Wonderful included a four-day camp to connect students with seniors through engaging activities like storytelling, art, music, and a prom, culminating in the creation of memory books that celebrate shared experiences. Fellows are Isabella Strickland- Martinez and Kayla Stephanos, both of Mater Dei High School.

For more information and to apply for the 2026 Dragon Fellowship, visit http://dragonkimfoundation.org or call (949) 229 –1396..

To learn more about sponsorships, contact Dragon Kim Foundation Co-founder and CEO Daniel Kim at development@dragonkimfoundation.org

The Fellowship was founded in honor of the late Dragon Kim, a talented young musician, athlete, and scholar who wanted to help others, and has become a seedbed for the next generation of creative thinkers and entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in their communities.

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About the Dragon Kim Foundation

The Dragon Kim Foundation was established in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by Grace and Daniel Kim to honor the memory of their late son Dragon Kim, who had been attending the Orange County School of the Arts. The mission of the Dragon Kim Foundation is to inspire our youth to impact their communities while discovering and pursuing their passions. Visit the website at http://dragonkimfoundation.org.