By Erik Luna
Updated on April 25 at 12:11 am
It’s a busy day at Boyle Heights’s White Memorial Medical Center and the usual people are roaming the hallways: nurses, doctors, patients and three Power Rangers.
East Los Angeles College student and actor of ELAC’s Theater Department, Carlos Castellanos is one of those Power Rangers.
Dressed as his favorite Power Ranger, the green ranger from the 1993 hit television series “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” he enters a room filled with hospitalized children in hope of brightening their day.
Along with Castellanos, his brother Steven Ramos, dressed as the Red Ranger, and his cousin Harvey Maradiaga, dressed as the Blue Ranger accompany him to the hospital for support.
“Being in a hospital isn’t much fun, especially for a kid, and making them smile for that moment really means a lot,” Castellano said.
In order to make sure the children have a great day, Castellanos and his siblings distribute Power Ranger coloring pages and candy.
“The feeling after is the best part. You get to not just see these kids, but you get to know them,” Castellanos said.
Castellanos gives as much attention to his role as the green ranger when he volunteers as when he has a role in a play.
One way he does this is by watching replays of the show to try and make his role seem more realistic.
“The kids have a very strong imagination and while (there) are some kids that know you’re not the real deal, you have ones that actually think you are a real Power Ranger,” Castellanos said.
Tina Aguilera, a certified child life specialist at the White Memorial Medical Center, said that although Castellanos and his siblings are there for the children, that didn’t stop the staff or the parents of the patients from getting pictures with the Power Rangers.
“Although some of our patients needed to be reminded who (the) Power Rangers were, their parents had a full understanding and were just as eager for their visit as the patients,” Aguilera said.
Through the Power Ranger franchise, which has run from 1993 to the present, Castellanos has used it to not only give back to the community, but to connect with his family as well.
Castellanos makes short Power Ranger videos for YouTube with the help of his friend and family.
One video he made with the help of his little sister Jasmine Castellanos as Megaforce Pink Ranger has over 155,000 views on YouTube.
Jason David Frank, who has portrayed the character Tommy Oliver as various rangers in the franchise’s history, but most famously as the green and white ranger, has supported Carlos Castellanos in his endeavors.
Frank saw the video that the two had made and shared it with his fans on Facebook to the surprise of Carlos Castellanos.
“We went to a Power Rangers Art Show over at Toy Art Gallery in Melrose and we had random people come up to me and my sister saying ‘You guys are amazing,’ just a lot of compliments,” Carlos Castellanos said.
Although he felt flattered about all the compliments he was receiving, his sister Jasmine Castellanos, being 8 years old was afraid of the attention and felt shy when having to talk with others.
“It’s like kind of awesome and it’s very fun to do videos because we actually get to act (as Power Rangers),” Jasmine Castellanos said.
As a birthday gift to his little brother Luis Avila, Carlos Castellanos and his brother Michael Ramos showed up to City Terrace Elementary School fully dressed as Power Rangers to pick him up from school.
They were immediately asked to take photos with the other children, to which they happily agreed.
It’s been over 21 years since the first series of Power Rangers debuted on Fox Kids and Carlos Castellanos said he still wakes up early to watch the new episodes with his brothers and sister.
What started years ago with the leader of the Power Rangers Zordon asking his robotic assistant Alpha Five to get him five “teenagers with attitude,” helped a family bond even closer and helped bring a much needed smile to children in need.
