Author: Krishiv Shah, Class of 2025
Congratulations to all the GVLP Families that participated in the GVLP ReWild Initiative '24! Taking the legacy created last year by the YICG GVLP ReWild Team ‘23 forward, the GVLP ReWild ‘24 Initiative was extremely successful!
Image: Town of North Hempstead Clerk Ragini Srivastava honoring GVLP Class of 2025 (Left to right: Jay Shah, Sameer Mohan, Jash Mody, Meghna Venkatesh, Parv Shah, Rathi Raja, Devan Shah, Ragini Srivastava, Saahir Beotra, Madhu Allu, Krishiv Shah, Sanjana Iyer, Yana Dhingra)
This video encapsulates the GVLP collective effort and dedication to "ReWilding" our ecosystem:
A few words from me regarding this special project:
I am grateful that this project was a success this year. All our participants learned more about "EcoDharma" and the importance of biodiversity, all while actively, positively changing our ecosystem on Long Island. I have no doubt that next year's team will build on our efforts, creating lasting benefits for our community and ecosystem through continued enthusiasm and dedication. Our Rewild LI story unfolds below.
ReWild Long Island is an organization that aims to restore damaged ecosystems and invasive species by promoting the “rewilding” of ecosystems and the planting of native species in order to promote biodiversity.
With the gracious help of Mr. Raju Rajan of ReWild Long Island, the YICG Gita Vicara Leadership Program got involved with ReWild and was able to inspire the Indian-American families of our community to plant native species and increase biodiversity right from their gardens!
Timeline:
Our initiative this year began in mid January, assembling the team of the YICG GVLP Class of 2025 in order to execute this project. We assigned each junior to a GVLP family, responsible for contacting and pre-ordering the plants. Our goal was to get the broader Indian community of Long Island involved with this project, and that was successful. We engaged almost all GVLP families with the help of our outreach team.
We then began to order the plants, and by early May we were able to pick them all up from the ReWild Garden @ Dodge in Port Washington. Multiple GVLP Parents and Juniors came along to assist with this process and the venue for distributing orders was Christopher Morley Park on 5/3/24.
Additionally, a couple of our juniors also led ReWild Part 2, through winter sowing. Winter sowing involves planting seeds in outdoor containers during winter, where the cold breaks their dormancy and the containers protect them until they germinate in spring. They successfully distributed the seeds on 5/11/24 @ Herricks Community Center. It was a wonderful “pre-Mother's Day" effort to engage the community in sustainable practices and planting native species.
It was amazing to see everyone engage in the collective effort, all with the theme of Prithvi in mind. The theme of the Gita Vicara Leadership Program that was instilled back in 2022 was Prithvi Mother Earth.
Prithvi is the name for the goddess of the Earth in Hinduism. One of the most important aspects of Earth, and what makes it unique from all other planets in our solar system, is nature and the variety of life, also known as biodiversity.
Biodiversity is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of our planet, wherein a large variety of animals, plants, and humans all depend on each other. As humans, we rely on biodiversity for the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the beauty of nature.
Living on an island, invasive species can have a dire effect on the ecosystem of Long Island, including native species endangerment and extinction. This is why the ReWild Initiative is so important, to promote the planting of native species, leading to increased biodiversity for our island.
GVLP Class of '25 Senior Sanjana Iyer shared her insight about the project and the experience, saying that, "Our ReWild initiative was more than just a way to make a difference and help our Long Island ecosystem thrive. Collaborating with my peers brought us all together for the same goal, and watching the plants grow day by day taught me patience. It was amazing that as a community we were all able to play a part in combatting the environmental challenges we face today."
Senior Yana Dhingra adds on sharing that, "This year's ReWild initiative taught me the importance of planting native species to support Long Island's biodiversity. Working with local families and seeing our green spaces grow each day has been rewarding. My experience of winter sowing helped me value this whole process and I learned a lot about time management and team work."
Our GVLP Advisor & Mentor Rathi Raja says, "To see our commitment to Mother Earth take shape in a concrete ReWild Long Island initiative, bringing families together with youth and adults participating, is a dream come true."
It may seem small -- just planting a native plant in your lawn. But that can go a long way, especially when we were able to engage almost 50+ families across Long Island in this project. And our impact is the most important part, that no matter how large or how small, our GVLP community is contributing to the betterment of our local ecosystem, one plant at a time.
I would like to thank the GVLP Class of 2025 & Parents for their team spirit and dedication. This project would not be possible without such an amazing collective effort:
Sanjana Iyer
Yana Dhingra
Sameer Mohan
Parv Shah
Saahir Beotra
Devan Shah
Jash Mody
Jay Shah
Meghna Venkatesh
Thank you,
Krishiv Shah -- on behalf of the ReWild GVLP Team that made this initiative possible.
Fantastic initiative for Prithvi Ma! Great job kids!