CCIP (www.theccip.com) exchange visitors celebrated the Fourth of July with a major cleanup of Queens’ 358-acre Cunningham Park, one of the biggest activities of the summer. Led by Serena Wong of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Linette Au of The University of Hong Kong, the event also involved five other activity coordinators – Natalie Ghui, Catherine Chan, Kalin Hui, Alex Cheuk and Kris Lui, from Singapore and Hong Kong.

The popular park gets a lot of wear and tear, so the volunteers were eager to give it some major TLC. The CCIP exchange visitors dug into their task, raking leaves, picking up trash, aerating soil, and refreshing the park’s lawns. The students worked alongside others while making their host community a better place. Activities like these are part of the American spirit of volunteerism and community improvement.

The Cunningham Park event provided another special occasion: the chance for Session A students to greet Session B students as one of their last activities before returning home. The two groups celebrated together with a barbecue. Joining the exchange visitors were Marc Haken and Harbachan Singh, both members of Community Board 8 in Queens and CCIP advisors. As president of the Friends of Cunningham Park, Mr. Haken helped the students obtain a barbecue permit.

"Volunteering sounds good on paper, but it feels great to actually do it,” said Kris, a student at The University of Hong Kong. “The park looked so much better after we cleaned it up and worked on the lawns."

Alex from the University of Hong Kong said, “This opportunity was very gratifying. We worked with people from all over the neighborhood and made a difference together. I enjoyed meeting Mr. Haken and Mr. Singh, who are very invested in this community. Thanks to the student leaders for arranging this event -- the barbecue was welcome after all that hard work."