On Saturday, August 23rd, from 1 to 4 pm, 3 AYLUS volunteers visited CP Nassau’s Farmingdale residential home.
When we walked in, there was only one resident so we started off by making a chocolate cake with the ingredients we had bought (oil, eggs, cake mix, and water). Before starting on the cake, we preheated the oven to the required temperature. Then, we added the needed ingredients into a bowl. The resident was very friendly and helped us mix the batter together. After the batter was evenly mixed, we poured it into a loaf pan and put it in the oven for about 40 to 50 minutes.
While we waited for the cake to bake, we decided to make arts and crafts with the residents as two more residents had joined us. Each volunteer paired up with a resident to help them with their chosen craft. One of the residents was very talkative and had a great time coloring a wooden flower. Another one colored in a wood frame while the other resident made a “Summer in a Jar” craft with stickers and gems.
Next, we worked on jigsaw puzzles with the residents. Everybody had a great time putting the pieces together to match the picture in the puzzle box and each puzzle depicted a form of wildlife such as lions.
By this time the cake was almost done, so we played a quick round of Uno before taking it out. We picked the cards for the residents and they seemed to enjoy the competition. It was very fun and everyone congratulated the talkative resident who ended up winning!
After we took the cake out, we went on a walk around the block while the cake cooled. We each walked with or pushed a resident while enjoying the warm weather. It seemed to bring up everyone’s mood before we returned to the house.
Finally, we cut the cake for the residents to enjoy. Two of the residents needed to be fed in small bites while the other resident could eat the cake on his own. They all seemed to like it a lot with one of the staff members mentioning chocolate cake was one resident’s favorite flavor. This was how we ended our visit.
We had a great afternoon with the residents and hope to come back soon!
Members who participated (3 hours): Jason Wei, Lily Zhang, Connie Lin
Reporter: Connie Lin
