On Sunday, April 22th, the AYLUS Roslyn Branch visited the CP Nassau residents at their Bayville location. This location provides care for individuals with physical and/or intellectual disabilities.
When we arrived at the care facility, it was heartwarming to hear that some of the residents remembered us from the last visit and showed their excitement to see us. We assisted the residents with different activities, ranging from helping them paint and playing games together. First, we helped some residents use watercolors to paint while everyone else was getting settled in. We let them choose the color while we helped them paint. When everyone was gathered around in the recreational room and we played multiple rounds of Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune on the Wii together. One of our members worked as a host and guided us throughout the games. Even though we played Jeopardy on easy mode, we still had a tough time trying to get the correct answers. Regardless, we were able to work together and get in first place. Our goal was to make everyone feel included and participate in the activities. When we played Wheel of Fortune, we didn’t lose once! We took turns guessing letters to spell out the phrases that were on the screen. The residents were very happy and excited to finally be able to guess the phrases. At last, we played a game similar to KerPlunk. It was made to be accessible to everyone! We moved the residents into a circle so they were all able to get a turn pulling the straws out of the holes. We encouraged the residents to practice their fine motor skills and applauded them when they were able to pull the straws out. We tried our best to create a fun and exciting atmosphere that made everyone feel happy. After all the games, we helped our coordinator move the residents to the lunch room and settled them down to eat.
Volunteering at CP Nassau provided us with the learning opportunity to become more patient, empathetic and responsible person. Providing these residents companionship and emotional support taught us the importance of having an open mind and accepting attitude, and treating everyone with respect and understanding regardless of our differences. When we left, it was very touching when they expressed that they were looking forward to seeing us again. We are so proud that we can make a positive impact on their lives!
Members who participated include:
Maxim Li(3 hours)，Kacie Li (3 hours)
Reporter: Kacie Li
