Party on Park 2025 Becomes UHCA’s Biggest Fundraiser Ever
UHCA brought back our annual spring “Party on Park” and this year it was bigger than ever, even if it did feel more like summer with sunny skies and a high in the low 90s. The event sold out days before it opened, with a limited number of wristbands available at the opening, and again at 5pm – nearly 500 paid attendees and an estimated 1,000 visitors in total!
We closed-off Park Blvd. between Madison and Adams, and with the addition of some more businesses participating along Adams and further down Park and beyond, this year’s event featured nearly every restaurant and store in this area offering deals, treats, and a reason for folks to discover why University Heights is so awesome.
University Heights is known for our diverse food and drink options, and our restaurants, coffee shops, and bars went all out to show why! Park and Rec, Kairoa, Lancers, and Cheers all helped folks cool down and chill out. Parkhouse, El Zarape, Plumeria, Bahn Thai, Muzita’s, Meraki Café, Yipao, and Good Omen delighted with samples and treats.
In addition to UH restaurants, bars, and retailers, we welcomed nearly 22 vendors for a total of 50 unique experiences. Appian Way (@appianwayband) delighted attendees with a range of 50s-90s music, bringing attendees to their feed to get into the groove.
One of the most popular spots was without a doubt A New Life Rescue who brought more than a dozen beautiful, spunky, and adorable puppies looking for their forever homes. We understand that this was one of their most successful events, with over 60 applications for foster/adoption taken that afternoon! Dog Training by Lola was not too far away to help offer some advice to potential and current dog owners on how to better communicate with their four-legged family members.
Cecilia’s Fine Jewelry hosted a children’s face-painter as well as local artist Jeffrey Taylor who was creating live art. Health and wellbeing were a big focus this year with Pure Health Alliance, Upgrade Chiropractic, and Source Connection providing advice and special offers. Services were also promoted by AT&T Wireless, UHCA’s own banking partner and newest business member CalCoast Credit Union, and First California Funding.
The Friends of the Library were talking books and library services, and Councilmember Whitburn and his super-responsive staff were on hand to answer questions and encourage folks to sign the petition regarding the Park/El Cajon/Normal intersection. Judging by the social media posts and what we heard from vendors, everyone had a great time in UH on May 10. For UHCA, this was the most successful fundraiser in our recorded history. In addition to raising funds from wristband sales, over 15 businesses either signed-up or renewed memberships, which has been a focus area for us this year.
We are so grateful to everyone who participated, and especially to lead organizer Angela Jackson-Llamas who put in dozens of hours of work to make it happen! The army of volunteers who helped pull this event together and ensure it ran smoothly are too many to name – but we have to give a special shout-out to Stephanie Gomez, Janice Hsu, Danny Llamas, Andy & Mary Lange, Roxanne Govari and her amazing team at Pemberley Realty, and Marc Johnson for all of their hard work and support with planning, permits, insurance, getting sponsors, vendors, design, promotion, and clean-up.