Photo courtesy UC Green.

West Philly is home to a number of great non-profit organizations that do many important things in the area. One of them is UC Green, a group of dedicated members and volunteers who make this area greener by planting and taking care of trees. On Thursday, Oct. 9, UC Green is celebrating its 16th anniversary and hosting its second Harvest Moon Social. This is a fundraising event supporting UC Green’s community tree planting and greening initiatives throughout West Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Community members are invited to join UC Green staff and volunteers at the event and enjoy a buffet and cocktail party. There will also be a raffle with some great local items, including gift baskets and certificates from the Four Worlds Bakery, Milk and Honey and Local 44.

Each year, the organization manages close to 2,000 volunteers who plant and tend hundreds of street trees and enhance public green spaces contributing thousands of hours in service to the neighborhoods. Harvest Moon Social is one of the events that helps UC Green to continue doing their work.

“I rely on the folks at UC Green as the go- to people when it comes to all things having to do with trees. They have given not only material support but moral support in helping us address many challenges we face as community gardeners working in vulnerable areas where efforts are sometimes undermined by many factors of the urban environment. Thanks to their hard work over many years, a greener, calmer and healthier landscape is unfolding in our neighborhood,” says Maureen Tate, a Cedar Park resident and block captain.

Harvest Moon Social will take place from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the recently opened Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships (3509 Spring Garden St). Tickets are $85/person, two for $150. Please call: 215-573-4684 or email: suemacqueen@ucgreen.org for more information and to reserve your ticket.

Some really creative and entrepreneurial folks work at the University City Arts League, one of the oldest nonprofits in West Philly. They always find fun and delicious ways to raise money. Many of our readers have probably heard about UCAL’s annual Chili Bowl, all-you-can-eat chili as long as it fits in a handmade bowl from UCAL’s pottery studio (you need to buy it at the event). And now, quite fitting for summertime, UCAL introduces a first ever Ice Cream Bowl on Sunday, June 8, 1 – 4 p.m.. Sounds yummy, right? So here are the deets from the UCAL website:

UCAL pottery studio. (Photo courtesy UCAL)

“Bassett’s, Little Baby’s, Shake Shack, ‘Lil Pop Shop, Ben & Jerry’s and Weckerly’s will be offering their delicious goodies, but it’s the ice cream bowls that will share center stage. Cost for a handmade bowl with ice cream is $10 per person or $30 for a family of four. Each additional family member costs $5. An array of toppings will be available for outfitting your ice cream including Greg Salisbury’s mean chocolate sauce and whipped cream.”

Sunday’s event will also include family-friendly events like face painting, live music and wheel throwing from the pottery studio. There will also be a raffle and a sale of pottery “seconds.” Proceeds will go towards improvements to the pottery studio.

University City Arts League is located at 4226 Spruce St. More information is available at the UCAL website.

Here’s a sweet way to support a local library! This Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you can buy some ice cream at the 40th Street Ben & Jerry’s location and help the Walnut West Library across the street. Ben & Jerry’s will donate 20 percent of the proceeds toward the library and its summer programming from all sales between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. on these days.

So stop by the shop located at 218 S. 40th St, enjoy some treats with your family and friends and also meet the wonderful folks from the Friends of Walnut St West Library who are behind this cool event.

Tickets are still available for the University City Arts League‘s annual fundraiser, “Spring Fling,” happening this Saturday, May 10 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Hall of Flags (Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce St). Traditionally, the fundraiser includes a silent auction featuring many great items and dinner. The online portion of the auction is also still open (closes tonight at 10 p.m.). You can choose from a number of unique experiences, classes, works by local artists and more. To view the auction items, to bid, and to buy tickets, go here.

The Spring Fling fundraiser will take place on Saturday from 6 – 9 p.m. and here are some more details (from ucartsleague.org):

Times

6 p.m. – Cocktails and Silent Auction; 7:30 – Dinner (by chef Greg Salisbury); 8 p.m. – Live Auction.

Parking

Free parking will be available at the Penn Museum Garage at South St and Convention Center Blvd. A shuttle will be running from the garage to the Hall of Flags from 6 to 7 p.m. and then from the Hall of Flags to the garage at the end of the evening.

Child Care

The Arts League will be offering an evening of pizza, movies and activities for children aged 5 to 12 from 5:30 to 9:30. Cost will be $35 for the first child and $25 for each additional child for the evening. Please contact the Arts League Office to make arrangements for child care.

Sample of Auction items

• Six oriental carpets including beauties from Tibet and Pakistan will be available at the Auction plus two silk on silk wall hangings. Winning bidders can also get free custom padding for their carpets at Woven Treasure.
• An iPad from the University of Pennsylvania Computer Connection, one of the special items to be auctioned at the Arts League auction.
• Gift certificates to numerous local restaurants including the White Dog Cafe will be available.
• Numerous spa services.

For more information, call 215-382-7811 or email: info@ucartsleague.org.

Two big community events are happening in the Cedar Park neighborhood this weekend (April 5-6).

A Spring Clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. to wake up the gardens at Cedar Park (49th-50th & Baltimore). Lots of volunteers are needed to help with rose bushes and grasses and clean out the garden beds for future mulching and planting. Tools and gloves will be provided. If you have clippers to bring that would be helpful. If you want to join your neighbors this Saturday please RSVP at: https://www.facebook.com/events/686153788112115/

The annual Cedar Park Neighbors Scholarship Fundraiser on will again bring together local residents and businesses in an effort to help neighborhood youth who want to continue their education after graduation from high school. The CPN Scholarship Fundraiser is a great opportunity to mingle with your neighbors, friends and business people and enjoy music by local musicians and food prepared by neighborhood restaurants. Here are more details (from the CPN website):

What: Live music for all ages with West Philly based singer-songwriter Gretchen Elise, beer by Dock Street Brewing Company, wine, and food from Aksum, Fu Wah, The Gold Standard Café, and Dock Street. We’ll also have a Silent Auction to include handmade crafts, jewelry, museum tickets, gift certificates to local restaurants, and much more! Children will enjoy kids’ music and activities from 4-5 p.m.
When: Sunday, April 6 from 4-6 p.m.
Where: The Cedar Works, 4919 Pentridge Street (South of Baltimore, between 48th & 49th 49th & 50th)
Cost: Tickets are $40 and available online or at the door. Kids under 12 are free. To purchase tickets or make a donation, complete the form on this page.

Photo courtesy of Make Music Philly’s website

This summer, Make Music Philly (MMP) will return for its second year of spreading good vibes and tunes across the city. The organizers behind MMP, though, want to make the free one-day festival on June 21 bigger than the inaugural showing, and they’re looking for your help.

Early this month, Make Music Philly launched its first-ever Kickstarter Campaign, “You Make Music Philly,” to raise funds for marketing, social media and advertising efforts that will cast MMP’s net even wider this year. So far, since launching, Make Music Philly 2014 has raised a little over $1,700 of its lofty $20,000 goal. The fundraiser has 10 more days to go, ending on Friday, April 11.

“The inaugural Make Music Philly was by all counts a huge success,” Natalie Diener, coordinator for this year’s MMP event, told West Philly Local.  “Our biggest hope for year two is for Make Music Philly to reach beyond the boundaries of Center City—for each neighborhood to really take ownership of the MMP events in their area.”

According to Diener, part of the goal this year is to double the number of citywide events to 300 (last year, there were 150 performances and 50 involved organizations). Kickstarter donations will be used to achieved this goal by funding an improved website, print marketing materials like this flier, media advertising, and tee shirts for attendees, volunteers and donors.

“The best way for us to reach into every neighborhood and across every demographic is to get the festival’s name out there in every media,” said Diener. “Our neighborhood outreach is being done entirely grassroots right now. We are making great strides to get new venues and artists involved, but the Kickstarter funds would be a tremendous help.”

Like last year, Make Music Philly will kick off at 8 a.m. and end at 8 p.m., and include all the do-it-yourself ingenuity Make Music Day—of which MMP is a part—is known for, for free. But there is one change: MMP will hold a grand finale spectacular at Penn’s Landing at the close of the june 21 festival, said Diener.

Interested venues and musicians can login and sign up here to register for Make Music Philly 2014. For more information, visit makemusicphilly.org or check out MMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

–Annamarya Scaccia