On Friday, August 7th in the year 2026 from 9:00 to 1:00 members of AYLUS Oakland Gardens picked up trash, pulled out weeds, and cleaned up the Flushing Friends Quaker Meeting House as their 243rd event. This was possible under the guidance of Maureen Reagan, who is the founder of Green Earth Urban Gardens. We were taught about the historic significance of the location and how to do the tasks.
Since the weather was very humid, most of our younger members stayed inside to help tidy up the house. The house was a historical site, and is the oldest house of worship in New York State. It is also the second-oldest quaker meeting house in the United States. We used things such as rags, water, brooms, dustpans, etc., to tidy up the house. Maureen instructed us how to do these things carefully, since the house was very old. We could not use too much water when wiping down walls, tables, and doors since the wood was very susceptible to breaking due to age.
Some of our younger members stayed outside to water the garden, which was filled with native plants and pollinators. Other younger members went around the house and picked up trash to make sure the area was tidy. For the older members, they stayed outside doing things like weeding out invasive, overgrown plants. They used clippers, making sure to snip the plant from below. After, they dug out the roots as well to make sure the plant would not grow back.
A bit after our event was half over, Maureen took our members to a bakery nearby. We were provided with fresh bread and milk tea to help recharge our members. At the end of the event, Maureen had some of our members try on clothes that were donated by a company. Our members posed as she took photos of the clothes to send to the company. Our members were extremely grateful.
Thank you to all members and parents who attended today’s event. We are all extremely grateful for the help of Maureen Reagan, who not only teaches us important information, but also provides our members with food. Thank you to everyone who showed up.
Our Volunteers:
1. Selena You: 4 hours
2. Kaisa Wu: 4 hours
3. Stephanie You: 4 hours
4. Angela Liu: 4 hours
5. Paipai Xu: 4 hours
6. Austin Li: 4 hours
7. Alfred Liu: 4 hours
8. Zhiheng Zhou: 4 hours
9. Ricky Song: 4 hours
10. Sophia Xu: 4 hours
11. Anthony Xu: 4 hours
12. Nuoyan Chen: 4 hours
13. Nicole Chen: 4 hours
14. Roy Zheng: 4 hours
15. Haoze Gao: 4 hours
16. Ruolin Gao: 4 hours
17. Kaitlyn Lum: 4 hours
18. Ella Lin: 4 hours
19. Justin Qiu: 4 hours
20. Sophia You: 4 hours
21. Vicki Lin: 4 hours
22. Ryan Zheng: 4 hours
23. Selena Zheng: 4 hours
24. Nancy Chen: 4 hours
25. Tina Chen: 4 hours
26. Winnie Lin: 4 hours
27. Paxton Xu: 4 hours
28. Nerissa Xu: 4 hours
29. Luke Chen: 4 hours
30. Enda Zheng: 4 hours
31. Vincent He: 4 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Fannie Li: 6 hours
Karen Liao: 6 hours
Faye Liu: 6 hours
Report Written by: Sophia ShiHan You
