On Saturday, May 10th, 2025, from 8:40 am to 12:40 pm, members from AYLUS Oakland Gardens Branch volunteered at Lawrence Triangle Park with Green Earth Urban Gardens for their 153rd event. The event consisted of two parts: first, members participated in a cleanup inside and around the park. Afterwards, they made floral bouquets for the nurses at Flushing Hospital Medical Center and the senior residents at Ozanam Nursing Home to express their gratitude during Nurses’ Appreciation Week and Mother’s Day.
In the first part of our event, members were divided into teams, each assigned specific tasks to help revitalize Lawrence Triangle Park. Younger volunteers focused on weeding invasive grasses from tree plots and using grabbers to collect litter scattered around the park. Members discovered countless nails and screws scattered underneath that posed a safety risk for park goers, and they were able to remove them before anyone got hurt. Clearing the excess food scraps and trash was a key step in deterring rodent activity in the area. Meanwhile, older members pruned overgrown bushes, removed invasive plants, and scraped decaying tree blossoms off the sidewalks. Because of the heavy rainfall earlier in the week, the rotting flowers had become stuck to the concrete, but volunteers effectively cleared them using flat shovels, restoring the walkway to a clean, safe condition. Team members also mulched the tree plots, while younger participants swept up soil and debris with push brooms, ensuring the park was left tidy and refreshed.
At around 11:00 a.m., Frank and Maureen from Green Earth Urban arrived with fresh flowers for a bouquet-making activity. The pink, purple, and blue gillyflowers were sourced from New York City’s flower market in Manhattan, which opens as early as 4:30 a.m. Working in an assembly-line style, our members crafted 20 beautiful bouquets for the nurses at the hospital across from the park. Maureen thoughtfully guided everyone through the process, ensuring each arrangement was made with care and attention to detail.
Each flower stem was first trimmed diagonally to about five inches to allow for better water absorption and blooming. Leaves on the lower half of the stems were removed to prevent rotting and keep the water clean. The bouquets were then assembled, each containing two branches, one pink, two purple, and one blue or magenta gillyflower. However, members were also encouraged to get creative and personalize their arrangements.
After finalizing the designs, stems were trimmed once more to equal lengths, and the bouquets were wrapped in decorative paper and placed in small plastic bags. These bouquets were then delivered to the dedicated nurses at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, accompanied by words of gratitude for their tireless service. In total, over forty bouquets were assembled, with the remaining ones delivered to the residents of Ozanam Nursing Home.
We would like to thank Maureen, Frank, and Ada for their guidance today, as well as for teaching members the importance of expressing their appreciation for the important members of society. Maureen’s help has always been invaluable, and today she bought us munchkins to help us regain our energy and encourage us to continue working. This event was extremely significant, and we are thankful to Maureen for planning an event that allowed members to experience other ways of giving back. We would also like to thank the nurses, not only in Flushing Hospital Medical Center, but all over the world for their aid and service. Finally, thank you to all the mothers who continue to support us and help AYLUS Oakland Gardens be the best volunteer organization it can be!
Our volunteers:
1. Henry Jiang: 4 hours
2. Ryan Wu : 4 hours
3. Tiffany Kong : 4 hours
4. Kaden He : 4 hours
5. Adrian Jiang : 4 hours
6. Jie Rui Liu: 4 hours
7. Zihan Shi: 4 hours
8. Yuyan Fan: 4 hours
9. Zhengyilan Fang : 4 hours
10. Shiqi Zheng : 4 hours
11. Eric Zheng : 4 hours
12. Sophia Xu : 4 hours
13. Xitong Zheng : 4 hours
14. Cynthia Shi: 4 hours
15. Anthony Xu : 4 hours
16. Matthew Lin : 4 hours
17. Brandon Lin : 4 hours
18.Aiden Lin : 4 hours
19. Nerissa Xu : 4 hours
20. Paxton Xu : 4 hours
21. Sophia ShiHan You : 4 hours
22.Selena ShiYan You : 4 hours
23. Ioklee Lin : 4 hours
24. Iokseng Lin : 4 hours
25. Hong Hao Liu: 4 hours
26. Vicki Lin : 4 hours
27. Bowen Chen: 3.5 hours
28. Alexander Lu : 3.5 hours
29. Queenie Qiu : 3.5 hours
30. Ian Lee : 3.5 hours
31. William Liu:3.5 hours
32. Haoze Gao: 3.5 hours
33. Eason Lin : 3.5 hours
34. Mohan Luo: 3.5 hours
35. Felix Lin: 3.5 hours
36. Jerry Shan : 3.5 hours
37. Ivan Cao: 3.5 hours
38. Patrick Yeung : 3.5 hours
39. Benny Yeung : 3.5 hours
40. Albert Tang: 3.5 hours
41. Ruolin Gao: 3.5 hours
42. Nuoheng Chen : 3.5 hours
43.Elina Lee : 3.5 hours
44. Terrence Cao : 3.5 hours
45. Anson Gao : 3.5 hours
46. Zhiheng Zhou: 3.5 hours
47. Vicky Liu: 3.5 hours
48. Opal Tsai : 3.5 hours
49. Nuoyan Chen : 3.5 hours
50. Sophia Lu: 2.5 hours
51. Yuhan Lin : 2.5 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Teng Fei Liu: 8 hours
Hsinhui Liao: 8 hours
Cui Fang Li: 8 hours
Report Written by: Iokseng Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu
