ReWild / South Nassau Chapter
mission statement
ReWild’s South Nassau Chapter is dedicated to helping our community educate, support, and nurture a healthier ecosystem, all of which we aim to accomplish by providing habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators. Another core mission of our chapter is to grow organic produce in support of our local food pantry, the Long Island Cares Food Pantry in Valley Stream.
Where we are
Our chapter covers the neighborhoods of Rockville Centre, Valley Stream, Baldwin, North Massapequa, and Merrick, as well as nearby communities throughout Nassau County’s southern shore.
You can find our chapter garden at: 200 E Hawthorne Avenue, Valley Stream, NY 11580.
who we are and how to contact
Chairs: Sabrina Yazdpour, Cheryl Bennett, Jacqueline Lang, Wendy Roque
Email us at SouthNassau-Leads@ReWildLongIsland.org
What we do
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ReWild Garden at Valley Stream Community Garden: Our home base that was established in 2025. This is where we primarily meet and in addition, where we grow the largest selection of native plants and produce.
We are located across the street from 200 East Hawthorne Ave, Valley Stream, NY 11580. We meet here every Saturday from 9-11AM, starting April 11th, 2026.
Arthur J. Hendrickson Park in Valley Stream: An established native garden that we look after to make sure it best serves our community and its wildlife.
See map below for address. We meet here on the second Sunday from 9-11AM of each month starting June 14th, 2026.
Tanglewood Preserve in Rockville Centre: To help support the health of a small native garden at the preserve, we actively remove invasive plants from the space. We would encourage enthusiastic volunteers who are itching to dive into a restoration project for this valuable habitat with native plantings.
We are located at 1450 Tanglewood Rd in Rockville Centre. We meet on the first Sunday of each month from 9-11AM, starting May 3rd, 2026.
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We welcome volunteers of all ages and gardening expertise! Our team is happy to guide you through various volunteering activities of your choice:
Planting and maintaining our flower and vegetable gardens
Learn how to identify our native plants, their characteristics, and why our local animal diversity needs them.
Learn how to sow and collect native plant seeds.
Outreach: tabling for events and festivals, or assisting with presentations at our local libraries.
Content Design: Help maintain our chapter webpage, design flyers, create social media posts, or help us encourage our community to engage with ReWild.
Sign up at www.rewildlongisland.org/volunteer
Please note that volunteers with over 10 volunteer hours with us will receive early access and a 20% discount to ReWild's Spring and Fall Plant Sales.
In addition, if you have any accessibility concerns, we encourage you to contact us:
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2025:
It’s official: Valley Stream’s first community garden is up and growing. (Juan Lasso, The Long Island Herald)
ReWild Long Island restores native plants at Rockville Centre’s Tanglewood Preserve. (Kelsie Radziski, The Long island Herald.)
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Teamwork with our corporate partners have made such a big difference in our community garden. If you would like to collaborate for our environment, please reach out at SouthNassau-Leads@ReWildLongIsland.org.
Thank you to all of the energetic and hardworking teams we have had the joy of gardening with. We look forward to another year of happy plants and pollinators! All of our gratitude to:
Assemblywoman Michaelle C. Solages and her team
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County
The Village of Valley Stream, with special thanks to the Planning and Economic Development Team, as well as the Beautification Committee
National Grid
Liberty Water
NYU Langone
LI Cares
Thank you all!
Upcoming Events
Programs in South Nassau
ReWild garden @ the Valley Stream Community Garden
(200 E Hawthorne Avenue, Valley Stream, 11580)
In collaboration with the Valley Stream Planning and Economic Development team, Valley Stream Beautification Comm. and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County, we have established a sustainable, native plant and vegetable garden at the heart of a culturally diverse neighborhood in South Nassau.
Thanks to funding and partnerships with local leaders, organizations, and ReWild volunteers—including Assemblywoman Michaelle C. Solages and her team, the Village of Valley Stream, National Grid, Liberty Water, and NYU Langone—we successfully grew, harvested, and donated approximately 300 pounds of fresh, organic produce to our local food pantry in 2025. This inaugural harvest exceeded expectations, and we anticipate even greater yields as the garden matures.
Throughout the season, the gardens served as living classrooms where residents learned about native plants, biodiversity, and ecological resilience. Many community members have described the gardens as a sanctuary—offering peace, connection, and improved mental well-being. By restoring the land, we discovered we were also helping to restore the community itself.
Native plants are being installed around the 65 x 200 ft perimeter of the garden. We are also working on bioswale management and upkeep located along the southern border of Valley Stream State Park.
For 2026, we will meet here every Saturday from 9-11AM, starting April 11th.
See the location up close!
For more information, or to join us, email us at SouthNassau-Leads@ReWildLongIsland.org
Tanglewood preserve in rockville centre
(1450 Tanglewood Rd, Rockville Centre, NY 11570)
With the Sierra Club of LI, we tend to and work on the removal of an invasive plant in this native garden nestled next to a small pond.
Despite the garden’s small size, it is key to the wildlife community that lives here. We hope to encourage the spread of native plant seeds as more invasive plants are removed, allowing for the creation of healthy habitat. We welcome enthusiastic volunteers who are itching to dive into a fun and important restoration project.
In 2026, we will meet here on the first Sunday of each month from 9-11AM, starting May 3rd.
See the location up close!
For more information, or to join us, email us at
SouthNassau-Leads@ReWildLongIsland.org
Hendrickson park Native plant garden
This mature native plant garden in Hendrickson Park provides sustenance for the local ecology that exists within the park, but it was initially built to help with drainage issues and mitigate flooding from the soccer pitches nearby.
For 2026, we will meet here on the second Sunday of each month from 9-11AM, starting May 17th.
See the location up close!
For more information, or to join us, email us at SouthNassau-Leads@ReWildLongIsland.org
merrick Liberty water garden
The Liberty Water Garden was put in by Rewild and is maintained by Liberty water and the Merrick Garden Club, to help it grow with more of our native plants. It is on the corner of Broadcast plaza and Merrick Ave and right next to the Merrick train station and parking lot.
For more information, or to join us, email us at SouthNassau-Leads@ReWildLongIsland.org
Join ReWild Long Island / South Nassau
Our chapter warmly extends an invitation to all who wish to join our current and upcoming projects, despite our modest size. If you see potential for a ReWild project closer to home in S. Nassau and have members who can help support, please let us know! We are eager to learn more about your initiative and lend our assistance as you contribute to our collective pollinator patchwork quilt.
Got questions?
Email us at SouthNassau-Leads@rewildlongisland.org