On Sunday, May 4th, 2025, AYLUS Oakland Gardens held their 150th event at Kissena Park. The event was from 9 am to 12 pm. AYLUS Oakland Gardens worked with Roxana to clean up the park and prune along the fences of the park. The weather was nice, there was little wind and sun, but it did end up raining toward the end of the event.
During the event, members of AYLUS Oakland Gardens were split into groups, where the high schoolers were tasked with handling the loppers and pruning the fence. Then fence surrounded an area of Kissena Park the plants are allowed to grow wildly with little to no human intervention. There used to be a greenhouse in the park, which housed a variety of plants. The fenced-in area allows those plants to grow freely. Pruning the fence prevents the wild plants from growing out of control, and it helps keep the park looking clean. This way, park goers can enjoy nature without human intervention, while also walking on the asphalt paths in the park. While high schoolers were tasked with pruning the fence, the rest of the members were tasked with bagging up broken asphalt. Members used shovels and brooms to move the asphalt in plastic bags. While others used rakes to clean the flowers and petals that landed on the path. Members needed to clean the path so that park goers don’t trip on the broken asphalt and injure themselves while walking or running. Cleaning up the broken asphalt also makes it easier for the park workers to fix the path, and it will make the path more pleasing to look at. Members weren’t allowed to fill the plastic bags too full because the asphalt was heavy, and it could tear the bags had too much weight in them. After to members were done with the asphalt, they were moved back to the fence and tasked with raking up leaves. Removing the leaves from the fence made the park look prettier, and it allows grass to grow. This way, people are more inclined to go to the beautiful park they live next to.
After members were done with raking up the leaves, Roxanna offered to give the members a tour of one of the park’s trails. Members followed Roxanna as she walked along the trail. Members got to see birds flying about on the trail and squirrels running. Members also got to see a sculpture on the trail. This was a way for the members to notice the fruit of their labor. They got to see the reason for keeping the park clean and tidy. We also got to see a tree nursery, which reminded us that we have to keep the park clean so those trees can grow up to be big and strong. Showing us that nature is a precious thing that needs to be protected, and that we need nature to provide us with the oxygen we need to breathe. As the tour was nearing its end, it suddenly began to rain. So all the members ran back to the meeting area and signed out to go home.
We would like to thank Roxana and other park employees for allowing us to give back and clean up our local park. We would also like to thank all the members who came to the event and did not get discouraged by the rain near the end of the event. These events not only keep the park clean, but they also encourage members to work together. So, thank you all for coming and improving the park.
Our Volunteers:
1. Jia Qi Liu (Angela): 3 hours
2. Vicki Lin: 3 hours
3. Hong Hao Liu (Alfred): 3 hours
4. Ioknor Lin: 3 hours
5. Ioklee Lin: 3 hours
6. Sophia ShiHan You: 3 hours
7. Vincent He: 3 hours
8. Stephanie ShiRan You: 3 hours
9. Sophia Lu: 3 hours
10. Cynthia Shi: 3 hours
11. Eric Zheng: 3 hours
12. Alexander Lu: 3 hours
13. Bowen Chen: 3 hours
14. Ivan Cao: 3 hours
15. Justin Cheong: 3 hours
16. Leon Chen: 3 hours
17. Anthony Xu: 3 hours
18. Sophia Xu: 3 hours
19. Yuan Gu: 3 hours
20. Zhiheng Zhou: 3 hours
21. Kaisa Wu: 3 hours
22. Ruien Ryan Song: 3 hours
23. Ruixuan Rachel Song: 3 hours
24. Zihan Shi: 3 hours
25. Austin Li: 3 hours
26. Liam Cheung: 3 hours
27. Kaden He: 3 hours
28. Vicky Liu: 3 hours
29. Evan Li: 3 hours
30. Mohan Luo: 3 hours
31. Eason Lin: 3 hours
32. Tian Xiang Ding: 3 hours
33. Terrence Cao: 3 hours
34. Zhuoning Li: 3 hours
35. Henry Jiang: 3 hours
36. Adrian Jiang: 3 hours
37. Yujie Zhu: 3 hours
38. Anson Gao: 3 hours
39. Gina Gao: 3 hours
40. Jie Rui Liu: 3 hours
41. Yuyan Fan: 3 hours
42. Matthew Lin: 3 hours
43. Yifei Mei: 3 hours
44. Bryce Xue: 3 hours
45. Orion Zheng: 3 hours
46. Yiming Chen: 3 hours
47. Hongyu Wei: 3 hours
48. Shi Hao Li: 3 hours
49. Tian Zhu Xie: 2 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Cui Fang Li (Fannie): 7.5 hours
Teng Fei Liu (Faye): 7.5hours
Hsinhui Liao (Karen): 7.5 hours
Report written by: Vicki Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu
