It has been 30 years since City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to the Arts began working with Los Angeles County’s most impoverished children.

Over the years, the organization has transformed 35,000 young lives through innovative programs in photography, dance and theater.

The annual Shakespeare Challenge, where children ages 5 to 18 challenge themselves and perform various Shakespeare monologues and scenes before an eclectic audience, mirrors the organization’s celebration of possibilities.

The event, to be held at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon, on Saturday, May 30, at 10 a.m., will feature 64 Challenge participants from Foster Elementary, Arts In Action, Whaley Middle School and Discovery Charter Prep High School.

Among those who will be giving notes to the participants will be two graduates of City Hearts’ programs.

“We are extremely proud of them and what they are giving back to their community,” says Sherry Jason, founder of City Hearts. “We met John over 20 years ago. He learned to love school, became a City Hearts mentor, then an assistant teacher. He worked tirelessly to graduate from high school and university. He has been a dedicated member of our Board of Directors for eight years.”

She mentioned 11-year-old Graco, who began with City Hearts’ classes at age 11, won first place in the first Shakespeare Challenge. This year he will join us as a judge once again. He will be graduating high school in June – and will attend U.C. Irvine’s Theater Arts Dept. in the fall.”

Each year, it is amazing to watch these children challenge themselves and their circumstances and come up with amazing performances that bring even the hardest heart to tears. “It takes tremendous effort and a path of caring about others,” Ms. Jason said. “When we see these young people up on that stage, we realize that one person can make a difference.”

The concept behind City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to the Arts was born in 1977, when Ms. Jason, a new public pefender, was taking her first tour of Central Juvenile Hall. She met a boy having his first piano lesson. She learned that this 13-year-old prodigy who could play Mozart by ear, was to be incarcerated for murder and was awaiting placement in Youth Authority.

She walked away wondering what the young man’s life would have been like  if he’d met a piano before a gun or gangs. Over the next several years, Ms. Jason (a dancer turned lawyer) and her husband, Bob, also an attorney, developed a plan.

First they renovated a studio near downtown L.A.’s skid row. Then they opened it up to provide free classes to children who needed the arts in their young lives.

Recently, Sherry and Bob Jason were awarded the Human Spirit Award from the international non-profit organization Talent for Humanity. They are featured in a new book, “Talent for Humanity: Stories of Creativity, Compassion and Courage to Inspire You on Your Journey.”

The organization will continue celebrating its 30th year of reaching out with an increase in photography, music, dance and theater programs. The culmination of the anniversary will be the annual photography auction fundraiser, sponsored by Leica. It will take place on Nov. 1 at the Leica Gallery in West Hollywood.

For more information on the Jasons and their work, see www.talentforhumanity.org/talent/sherry-and-bob-jason 

For more details on Challenge, contact  Ms. Donaldson at jane@cityhearts.org.