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Madeline Mauceri, 12, and Vanessa DeFerrari clean the Compost Collective s site after it reopened. (Courtesy of Carlos Pesantes)
FOREST HILLS, QUEENS Inside an unassuming lot along Yellowstone Boulevard, in the shadow of the old abandoned Long Island Rail Road tracks that run across the border between Forest Hills and Rego Park, a dedicated crew of volunteers turns trash into treasure.
They are the Compost Collective, a group that put down roots in the neighborhood about eight years ago with collection bins at the Church-in-the-Gardens and has since expanded to its own site on Yellowstone near Kessel Street.
The group, which, at its peak, has boasted nearly four dozen volunteers as young as 12 and as old as 82, prides itself on being the only community composting group that distributes its compost to the public for free.