Spruce Up For Rachel Carson Playground

Nearly all Flushing's ethnic, cultural and religious populations were represented among the 120 youth volunteers working side-by-side on May 18 for It's My Park Day. Assembled from local middle and high schools and diverse youth organizations, they joined forces in a community beautification event at Kissena Corridor Park's Rachel Carson Playground. Green Earth Urban Gardens and Queensboro Hill Neighborhood Association engaged youngsters from all backgrounds to become park stewards for a day. Youth from East-West School, I.S. 237 Rachel Carson School, Bayside H.S., John Bowne H.S., Muslim Center J.H.S. and Hindu Temple Society were among the participants engaged in spring cleaning, planting flowers, spot-painting playground swings, weeding and dressing up much of the city Department of Parks and Recreation (DOP) sports and play equipment in the park. Meet-up was at 9:30 a.m. on Colden Street between Geranium and Juniper Avenues in Flushing, whereupon all received It's My Park T-shirts from Partnership for Parks and tools loaned from DOP. "By introducing this healthy and green project to our community, we encourage a greater sense of community involvement, as youth of diverse cultures and ethnicities work together, fostering understanding and positive change," said Maureen Regan, Green Earth Urban Gardens president, who led the project. Councilmember Peter Koo, Assembly member Ron Kim and David Ng, chief of staff to Assembly member Nily Rozic, cheered the kids on, and helped distribute lunch. Sponsors included Koo, Hindu Temple Society, One Flushing, TD Bank, Gino's of Kissena Pizzeria, Krystal Clear Graphics, and Ares Printing Company. It's My Park Day is a project of the city Partnership for Parks. It was a unique experience for our students to engage and learn to work together with other groups. Our appreciation goes to our sister Seema saleem and Alam Ara Zaidi who devoted a full day of May 18, 2013 in supervising our students and helping with various activities in the park.