The City of Cupertino’s Parks and Recreation hosted its annual Earth Day and Arbor Festival at the Cupertino Library on Saturday, April 5. Designed to feature local community organizations and initiatives that focus on preserving the local environment, the four-hour event allowed families to partake in informative presentations, take home memorabilia from each stand, and enjoy food truck dishes and musical performances.
Student volunteers such as Lynbrook High School junior Joyce Cheung assisted the city with setting up the event’s booths and outlining stands for exhibitors to stand, arriving at 7 a.m. to facilitate the volunteer onboarding process. Cheung believes that the amount of volunteers they drew in for the Festival was satisfactory, even with challenges.
“It was definitely a learning curve to try to get all the different volunteers to come over to this event,” Cheung said. “I’m really happy with the turnout. We ended up having more than 50 volunteers.”
Sophomore Saanj Rao currently serves as a member of the Cupertino Youth Activity Board and also volunteered at the festival alongside other members of the Board. Rao believes that the event positively impacts Cupertino youth and encourages them to take responsibility for protecting the local environment.
“I know there are a lot of younger kids here feeling like they are a part of a community and that they have the ability to make change in the community” Rao said. “I hope they feel proud of themselves and inspired when they walk out.”
