On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, from 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM, the Roslyn Branch of AYLUS volunteered at the 2024 Summer BBQ Bash organized by Roslyn GRACE (Greater Roslyn Association for Chinese Enrichment). The Roslyn GRACE program is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serve and support the Chinese American families in Roslyn.
Today, 5 members of the AYLUS Roslyn Branch helped prepare food, trays, banners, and fun events for this end-of-school celebration. More than one hundred Roslyn residents joined the party. We started off by bringing the food, water, and pinatas to the tables. We set up the trays, as the adults made the food. When the food was in the trays, and the setup was complete, we hung up the pinatas. As the picnic started, people flooded in the line for food. We were each assigned to a different food/station. There were hamburgers, hot dogs, skewers, salad, mac n cheese, chips, water, and capri-suns. After everyone was full, we moved on to the pinatas. Each kid from age 1-9 had 2 hits on the pinata, and each kid from ages 10 and up had one hit. The kids rushed and piled on top of each other when the pinata broke. Some kids even lost their shoes! This was a fun and memorable event for the kids. As the day came to an end, the volunteers cleaned up, helped put the leftovers into cars, and went home after the crowd left.
One of the challenges was the heat in the area. We overcame this by putting bottles of water in the ice, drinking them, and handing them out to everyone. Today, we learned that helping others makes us happy, and seeing little children’s happy reaction makes everything pay off.
Members who participated include:
Leo Zheng (4.5 hours), Max Li (4.5 hours),Brian Xiong (4.5 hours),Eric Xiong (4.5 hours),Zihan Wang (4.5 hours)
Reporter: Leo Zheng
