In honor of all the hard work of their members, AYLUS Oakland Gardens hosted an award ceremony in Little Bay Park on June 27th, 2024. Presenting the President’s Volunteer Service Award was New York State Senator for District 16, John C. Liu, who was also a member of the Bayside community. He attended New York City public schools including Hunter College High School and the Bronx High School of Science. Now a professor who teaches finance at Columbia University once a week and appointed to a position where he can give back to his community, Senator Liu shows the importance of stepping up and becoming a leader in such a tight-knit community.
We first started off with cleaning the beach. Our members spilt into groups, spreading out along the shore to maximize our efforts of cleaning the beach. After a while, we had a break for our award ceremony. Due to the efforts of our parent advisor Hsinhui Liao, Karen, our senator John Liu came to the ceremony to give our members a speech as well as presenting the awards.
“Part of what makes our community better right here in Northeast Queens is the fact that we have some of the most beautiful parks in the entire city,” he said, “and you are helping to keep those parks as beautiful and as wonderful as they are.”
Although this was the first year that the branch applied for the prestigious award, Senator Liu also awarded 17 volunteers, who had received bronze, silver, and gold medals, with a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the New York State Senate. To conclude the ceremony, Senator Liu encouraged all members to express gratitude to their parents for helping and supporting their paths to becoming a leader. While it may seem as if volunteering is all work and low reward, “you know you made a difference. That is the greatest reward that you as volunteers and therefore as leaders can gain.”
After the ceremony ended, all volunteers continued to clean up the beach of Little Bay Park using trash pickers, rakes, and trash bags. Milk cartons, one croc, and plastic containers were tangled up among plastic bags and seaweed. A crab was even found dead by one of our members. Even though it was the third time the branch has volunteered at Little Bay Park, more work has to be put in before the park can truly be back to its pristine, natural form, teaching AYLUS members an important lesson: trash as small as a bottle cap can consolidate and make it more difficult to clean.
Thank you to Senator Liu for coming to the event, presenting awards, and making some wise remarks about leadership. Thank you to Mei Hua Ru, Operations Director, Senator Liu’s secretary, and parent advisor Karen who helped organize this event. Congratulations to all members who received awards and good luck to everyone next year!
Our Volunteers:
Jia Qi Liu: 3 hours
Hong Hao Liu: 3 hours
Stephanie ShiRan You: 3 hours
Junzhe Ling: 3 hours
Yuxin Liu: 3 hours
Rex He: 3 hours
Bowen Chen: 3 hours
Alex Lu: 3 hours
Sophia ShiHan You: 3 hours
Anthony Lin: 3 hours
Ricky Song: 3 hours
Karis Yan-Tung Lau: 3 hours
XiLin Huang: 3 hours
Shirley Chiu: 3 hours
Ioklee Lin: 3 hours
Iokseng Lin: 3 hours
Ioknor Lin: 3 hours
Iokting Lin: 3 hours
Vicki Lin: 3 hours
Tyler Siegel: 3 hours
Cindy Siegel: 3 hours
Liam Cheung: 3 hours
Sophia Gao: 3 hours
Derrick Gao: 3 hours
Sabrina Gao: 3 hours
Shi Hao Li: 3 hours
Shi Zhen Li: 3 hours
Tian Xiang Ding: 3 hours
Blake Han: 3 hours
Sophia Li: 3 hours
Eric Zheng: 3 hours
Melody Ke: 3 hours
Songen Yang: 3 hours
Yuan Gu: 3 hours
Jasmine Lin: 3 hours
Ethan Lin: 3 hours
Patrick Guan: 3 hours
Victor Tu: 3 hours
Ryan Wu: 3 hours
Aiden Lin: 3 hours
Brandon Lin: 3 hours
Mandy Lin: 3 hours
Evaline Yuel: 3 hours
Austin Yuel: 3 hours
Darren Li: 3 hours
Austin Li: 3 hours
Darren Wu: 3 hours
Sophia Lin: 3 hours
Jiaheng Yu: 3 hours
Amy Liu: 3 hours
Elina Lee: 3 hours
Ian Lee: 3 hours
Albert Tang: 3 hours
Ziheng Jiao: 3 hours
Patrick Yeung: 2.5 hours
Benny Yeung: 2.5 hours
Evina Liu: 2 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Cui Fang Li (Fannie): 4.5 hours
Teng Fei Liu (Faye): 4.5 hours
Hsinhui Liao (Karen): 4.5 hours
Report written by: Iokseng Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu
