On Saturday, May 4, 2024, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, the Roslyn Branch of Aylus volunteered at Arrow Lane house run by the Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County
(CP Nassau). CP Nassau is a nonprofit organization that provides the best possible care for adults and children with cerebral palsy. One of the programs they provide is residential homes that provide a safe, comfortable, and positive living environment.
Although we only had 2 volunteers today, we still had fun-packed activities and games! We started by baking a lemon cake. One of the residents read the instructions for us and set the baking plan in motion. They pour all the ingredients together and then mix them. Afterwards, we put the pan in the oven that was set for 350F. While the cake was in the oven, we played Uno. Although the residents sometimes struggled to choose which card to play, we played 2 games which resulted in 2 different winners. After uno, we showed the residents a card with magic tricks. I wasn’t very good at doing the magic tricks, but the idea behind the magic trick was that we let them choose a card, without seeing the card we had to guess which card they chose. By this time, the house was filled with the sweet aroma of the lemon cake, so we took the cake out of the oven and spread lemon glaze over it while the cake was still warm. The residents loved the cake. They each had 1-2 pieces and in no time, the cake was gone. After the cake, one of the residents wanted to go for a walk so I went out with him, while Serena stayed at the house to accompany the other residents. We walked around in the nearby park which was right behind the house. We talked about the airplanes that were flying over us, and we chatted about other things that he likes to do. When we got back, the resident wanted to play basketball in the yard so we played with him for a while. We were shocked to see that he made 12 baskets in a row. After basketball, we went inside and played a game of bingo with the rest of the group. We played Josh Groben’s You Raised Me Up while playing Bingo, one of the residents was able to sing along and he had a great singing voice.
We also met the 3 pet rabbits in the house, their names were Coco, Cici and Shadow. The staff told us they were brought into the house for the residents during covid lock down.
The members who participated include: Maxim Li (3 hours) and Serena Chen (3 hours)
Reporter: Maxim Li
