On Saturday, June 1st, 2024, from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM, the Roslyn Branch of AYLUS worked
with the AYLUS Great Neck Branch volunteered at a CP Nassau Group Home in Farmingdale.
CP Nassau (Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County) is a nonprofit organization that is
dedicated to providing quality services for children and adults with cerebral palsy. One of their
programs is to provide residential life services to adults in a healthy, safe, and secure home-like
living environment. The group home that we volunteered at today has 4 residents present.
Today, 2 members of the AYLUS Roslyn Branch and 3 members of the Great Neck branch
came up with fun activities for the patients. We started with baking. The residents were helped
with making one tray of chocolate chip cookies. The residents helped with various things such
as stirring, cracking eggs, and pouring in the ingredients. After we made the dough, the
residents started to bake them. As we waited for the cakes to bake, we played a couple of games
of Uno. With the help of the volunteers, we allowed the residents to stay engaged, ensuring that
everyone had a great time. After uno, we still had some leisure time before the cookies were
done. We did arts & crafts, making animals with paper plates, and cardboard. Some examples
of these animals were lions, bunnies, and frogs. After the cookies were done, we sat down with
the residents and enjoyed the sweets with them. We made a rewards system to allow the
residents to challenge themselves and push them to their limits. We set up a “mini basketball”
where the volunteers held baskets as the residents tried to throw the balls in. We could all
observe the focus that was being displayed by the residents, as shown by how much the
residents could push themselves. Finally, to end the day, we relaxed and played “Heads Up”, and
the residents were the ones giving us hints. This was a great way to challenge them physically,
due to the fact that most of the residents used physical gestures to hint at us.
One of the challenges was disinterest from mainly one of the residents. One resident was not
interested in any of the activities. However, all of the activities he wanted to do were not as easy
as the other ones. We resolved this issue by playing Heads Up, so he could think hard about
what hints were helpful. Heads Up was a great activity, due to the fact that it was enjoyable for
everyone.
Members who participated include:
Leo Zheng (3 hours), Maxim Li (3 hours)
Reporter: Leo Zheng
