Virtual Knitalong

Wednesday, April 14, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

This is a space for community members to come together virtually to knit. All levels are welcome! Join us every Wednesday at 2:00pm by using this link: https://zoom.us/j/435817636

Virtual Living Classroom: Marine Debris (Elementary School)

Friday, April 16, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

This FREE virtual workshop is for Elementary schoolchildren and their families, focused on the issue of marine debris, specifically plastics. Participants can make a recycled art project, an advocacy campaign, or come up with their own medium to raise awareness of minimizing single-plastic use. 

Virtual Living Classroom: Marine Debris (Middle School)

Friday, April 16, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

This FREE virtual workshop is for Middle School children and their families focused on the issue of marine debris, specifically plastics. Participants can make a recycled art project, an advocacy campaign, or come up with their own medium to raise awareness of minimizing single-plastic use. 

Community Clean Up

Saturday, April 17, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
59th Street and Rockaway Freeway, DOT Lot

Come join RISE this Spring for a cleanup to help make your community a cleaner place for everyone. With the weather finally starting to clear up RISE is encouraging everyone to go outside and get their hands a little dirty. To insure a safe and effective cleanup RISE will be handing out gloves and bags to all participants. RISE appreciates all of you for taking the time out of your day to help make a difference in our community, no matter how big or small. Hope to see you out there.

For more information about this event please email info@riserockaway.org. 

Masks are required and safe social distancing must be maintained. Registration is not required. This event is hosted rain or shine! 

Greater Rockaway Community Design Workshop 2: From Vision to Action

Thursday, April 22, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

The Greater Rockaway Community & Shoreline Enhancement Plan builds on numerous initiatives by city, state, federal, and nonprofit partners to conduct a comprehensive site assessment and develop a preliminary design to enhance dunes along the Atlantic shoreline of the Rockaway Peninsula into an extensive, biodiverse, and habitat-rich dune system that provides economic opportunities for residents. Click here for more details

Virtual Living Classroom: Marine Debris (Elementary School)

Friday, April 23, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

This FREE virtual workshop is for Elementary schoolchildren and their families, focused on the issue of marine debris, specifically plastics. Participants can make a recycled art project, an advocacy campaign, or come up with their own medium to raise awareness of minimizing single-plastic use. 

Virtual Living Classroom: Marine Debris (Middle School)

Friday, April 23, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

This FREE virtual workshop is for Middle School children and their families, focused on the issue of marine debris, specifically plastics. Participants can make a recycled art project, an advocacy campaign, or come up with their own medium to raise awareness of minimizing single-plastic use. 

Virtual Art Workshop With Jennifer Jones

Saturday, April 24, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

RISE is happy to have artist Jennifer Jones hosting our next Virtual Art Workshop. Jennifer is a Far Rockaway resident and a lifelong New Yorker. She is a teaching artist who teaches Art History at Westchester Community College and Discovering the Arts at Purchase College. In this workshop, we will create two different types of sculptures inspired by artists Alma Thomas and Joe Minter. First, we will start with making a relief sculpture and then transition over to a sculpture in the round. While we wait for them to dry, participants will have the option of making three-dimensional abstract sculptures. Finally for the last few minutes of the workshop, we will all screen-share our final products with one another. Thank you for your interest in RISE and please stay tuned for our next Virtual Art Workshop, there will be more to come!

Materials needed:

Virtual Living Classroom: Marine Debris (Elementary School)

Friday, April 30, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

This FREE virtual workshop is for Elementary schoolchildren and their families, focused on the issue of marine debris, specifically plastics. Participants can make a recycled art project, an advocacy campaign, or come up with their own medium to raise awareness of minimizing single-plastic use. 

Virtual Living Classroom: Marine Debris (Middle School)

Friday, April 30, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Join us on Zoom

This FREE virtual workshop is for Middle School children and their families, focused on the issue of marine debris, specifically plastics. Participants can make a recycled art project, an advocacy campaign, or come up with their own medium to raise awareness of minimizing single-plastic use. 

Mother's Day Foraging Tour with Wildman Steve Brill

Sunday, May 9, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Meet at Beach 59th St and Rockaway Freeway

For Mother's Day, RISE will be hosting a foraging tour with America's go-to guy for foraging, "Wildman" Steve Brill.

The sandy soil of the Rockaways is poor, limiting tree- and grass growth, but benefiting other species that can take advantage of the unblocked sun and nutrient-poor soil. Wild greens will be doing great here, and there are dozens of species that thrive. Field garlic is a very tasty relative of onions and garlic. 

This event is free but advance registration is required as tour will be limited to 10 people. This event is rain or shine. Masks are required and safe social distancing must be maintained. 

International Coastal Cleanup

Saturday, September 18, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Meet at Beach 59th St and Rockaway Freeway

Join RISE for the annual International Coastal Cleanup in partnership with the American Littoral Society. People of all ages are encouraged to participate. All trash collected at this event will be entered into the national database, which goes to help establish legislation to reduce trash along our shores.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be handing out prepacked tote bags with gloves, bags, and instructions. Participants are encouraged to head to the beach or surrounding area to do a self guided cleanup.

Students can receive community service hours for their efforts, but they must email programs@riserockaway.org. Staff will not sign physical forms during the event.

Masks are required and safe social distancing must be maintained. Registration is not required. This event is hosted rain or shine! 

Special thanks to NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation, and Patagonia for sponsoring this event. 

Fall Foraging Tour w. Wildman Steve Brill

Saturday, October 16, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Meet at Beach 59th St and Rockaway Freeway

This fall, RISE will be hosting a tour with America's go-to foraging team, "Wildman" Steve Brill and his daughter Violet. The vastly under appreciated natural habitat of the Rockaways offers all the best wild foods of the seashore.

The sandy soil of the Rockaways is poor, limiting tree- and grass growth, but benefiting other species that can take advantage of the unblocked sun and nutrient-poor soil. Wild greens will be doing great here, and there are dozens of species that thrive. Field garlic is a very tasty relative of onions and garlic. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will limit the group to 10 people. Masks are required and safe social distancing must be maintained. 

This event is free but advance registration is required. This event is rain or shine.