On Saturday, October 5th, 2024, the Aylus Roslyn Branch volunteered at the Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County (CP Nassau). CP Nassau is dedicated to assisting people with cerebral palsy to achieve their highest level of independence.
Halloween is just around the corner so we started our time volunteering at the house by painting small pumpkins for Halloween. Volunteers partnered with a resident and guided them in using acrylic paints to decorate the pumpkins. We painted a variety of different faces onto the pumpkins then set them aside to dry. Afterwards, we decided to do sticker collages. Using a lot of different Halloween themed stickers, we decorated a big piece of paper so it could be hung up on the residents’ doors later on. We even colored wooden decorates to put onto the paper! Wrapping up the crafts, we then brought out a dart game. The huge velcro game made it accessible to the residents who wanted to play.
Throughout our time at the house doing different activities, we learned how to make every resident included despite some not wanting to actively participate. Different residents require different methods of aid like hand on hand. However, this did not stop us from having fun and including everyone. The ability to help others is so rewarding and teaches patience and understanding. We are so lucky to have opportunities to volunteer at CP Nassau and hope to continue doing so!
Reporter, Angelika Jiang
Participants: Angelika Jiang (2.5 hours), Haoyang Sun (2.5 hours), Leo Zhang (2.5 hours), Kyle Shih (2.5 hours), Maggie Xiao (2.5 hours)