On Sunday, August 20th, 2023, from 9:30 am to 12 pm, volunteers from the Oakland Gardens Branch hosted an event at the picnic area behind the tennis court at 196-00 Union Turnpike in Cunningham Park, Fresh Meadows. This event is for us to bring the community together and make colorful drawings that we will mail out to ColorASmile.org, an organization that mails these drawings to the sick, elderly, war veterans, and anyone who is in need of a smile.
During the 2.5 hours that we hosted this event, our group bonded over coloring pictures to be sent out to anyone who needs a smile. As the pictures were printed out by our branch, there were a variety of pictures to choose from. As our branch members range in ages, everyone is brought together by this activity, thus bonding while coloring. This activity also allowed parents to color pictures, helping them relieve any stress accumulated over the course of a week. Another benefit was that this allowed for our members’ parents to bond with them together, as some families don’t have time to bond with each other due to work schedules and school schedules. This allowed the bond between parents and kids to be stronger, bringing happiness to both worlds.
Our branch goal with this event is to bring happiness to the people who are receiving these hand colored drawings, as well as bringing happiness to the people who are participating in this event. In the end, we managed to finish 35 pictures. However, we are mailing out 31 pictures as some of the volunteers are too young, making it harder for them to reach the requirements set in place by the organization, Color A Smile. Yet we still congratulate them for coming today and helping us bring the community together as well as spreading happiness.
Our Volunteers:
Jia Qi Liu (Angela): 2.5 hours
Jessica Lin: 2.5 hours
Anthony Lin: 2.5 hours
Sophia ShiHan You: 2.5 hours
Hong Hao Liu (Alfred): 2.5 hours
Stephanie ShiRan You: 2.5 hours
Calvin Choi: 2.5 hours
Velma Wu: 2.5 hours
Verina Wu: 2.5 hours
Vicki Lin: 2.5 hours
Colleen Chen: 2.5 hours
Mango Li: 2.5 hours
Report by Jia Qi Liu (Angela), Andy Chen, Jessica Lin, Susan Yang