Marking the beginning of Earth Month, 72 members teamed up to participate in AYLUS Oakland Gardens’ 62nd event on April 7, 2024. Using trash pickers and trash bags provided to us by Park Rangers Starlight, Lazere, Micheal Devito and Salvatore Asaro, we worked hard to clean up Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the neighboring Meadow Lake. Trash cleanup is important here because rain and strong winds often bring trash from the surrounding five neighborhoods to the park. Along with garbage left over from barbecues and debris that washed ashore, we had a lot of work to do.
Park Ranger Salvatore Asaro explained to our members that in the 1900’s, Meadow Lake, then a part of a wetlands, was used as a dumping ground for coal from railroads, which caused many animals to leave the area. Over time, park restoration efforts brought some of these animals, including great blue herons, bald eagles, gulls, geese, raccoons, and opossums back. The park also hosts recreational activities like boating lessons taught by TASCA (The American Small Craft Association) in the spring, summer, and fall. By cleaning up trash, we not only help the ecosystem of the many animals that call the park home, but also ensure that floating debris does not cause any problems for boaters.
Angela Liu, our president, separated us into groups of three– high, middle, and elementary schoolers. These three groups were further separated into groups of around 5 people, led by parent supervisors. Areas with the most amount of garbage were along the edge of the lake, around the fence of the Model Airplane Field, and near the small bridge on Meadow Lake Drive. Members reported that they found a homemade kite, a beach chair, and a large plastic traffic drum along with an abundance of bottle caps, plastic bags, and food wrappers. We ended up with at least 15 bags of trash.
Thank you to all members for helping out today! Once again, thank you to Park Rangers Starlight, Lazere, Micheal Devito and Salvatore Asaro for guiding us in today’s event!
Our volunteers:
Nina Yang: 2.5 hours
Emily Lin: 2.5 hours
Evan Zhu: 2.5 hours
Hong Hao (Alfred) Liu: 2.5hours
Jia Qi (Angela) Liu: 2.5 hours
Benny Zou: 2.5 hours
Anthony Lin: 2.5 hours
Ling Yu Hao: 2.5 hours
Huizhen Piao: 2.5 hours
Tyler Siegel: 2.5 hours
Cindy Siegel: 2.5 hours
Fiona Chen: 2.5 hours
Leo Xue: 2.5 hours
Kaisa Wu: 2.5 hours
Tian Xiang Ding: 2.5 hours
Kingsley Chen: 2.5 hours
Jordan Leung: 2.5 hours
Blake Han: 2.5 hours
Sophia ShiHan You: 2.5 hours
Melody Ke: 2.5 hours
Evaline Yuel: 2.5 hours
Kingston Wu: 2.5 hours
Hannah Liu: 2.5 hours
Evina Liu: 2.5 hours
Ayden Shi: 2.5 hours
Tong Ren: 2.5 hours
Owen Liu: 2.5 hours
Sebastian Wong: 2.5 hours
Eric Yu: 2.5 hours
Xiang Xi Yu: 2.5 hours
Aiden Lan: 2.5 hours
Yichen Liu: 2.5 hours
Le Ren: 2.5 hours
Haochen Liu: 2.5 hours
Yuxin Liu: 2.5 hours
Junzhe Ling: 2.5 hours
Nerissa Xu: 2.5 hours
Paxton Xu: 2.5 hours
Brayden Lau: 2.5 hours
Liam Cheung: 2.5 hours
Adrianna Zhang: 2.5 hours
Ioknor Lin: 2.5 hours
Ioksong Lin: 2.5 hours
Ivan Wu: 2.5 hours
Brandon Lin: 2.5 hours
Elina Lee: 2.5 hours
Ian Lee: 2.5 hours
Erica Li: 2.5 hours
Alecia Zhao: 2.5 hours
Carolyn Zhao: 2.5 hours
Zhiyan Zeng: 2.5 hours
Zoey Zhou: 2.5 hours
Hannah Zheng: 2.5 hours
Emily Zheng: 2.5 hours
Vicki Lin: 2.5 hours
Thea Jiang: 2.5 hours
Kingsley Jiang: 2.5 hours
Patrick Guan: 2.5 hours
Song Hou: 2.5 hours
Queena Li: 2.5 hours
Hang Xu Yu: 2.5 hours
Mo Yu: 2.5 hours
Si Qi Chen: 2.5 hours
Darren Li: 2.5 hours
Austin Li: 2.5 hours
Matthew Lin: 2.5 hours
Isabella Wang: 2.5 hours
Bryce Xue: 2.5 hours
Zoe Zeng: 2.5 hours
Andrew Zeng: 2.5 hours
Orion Zheng: 2.5 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Hsinhui Liao (Karen)
Cui Li (Fannie)
Teng Fei Liu (Faye)
Report Written by: Iokseng Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Li
