West Philly Tool Library space at 1314 S 47th Street. (Photo courtesy of WPTL)

Here’s some awesome news for the West Philly Tool Library: after a series of publications in local media, including West Philly Local, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and PlanPhilly, and great community support, their online fundraising campaign not only reached its goal of $10,000 but exceeded it by $900.

The crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo.com was seeking donations to help fund the tool library’s expansion and community outreach projects and allow them to purchase new, most needed tools.

Some 172 different funders donated to the campaign, according to Peter Foreman-Murray, the tool library’s executive director. “It’s really amazing to see all the support from the community,” Foreman-Murray wrote in an email.

Now, what’s the next step for the tool library after the successful fundraiser?

“We’re really excited to put the funds into use at the tool library,” writes Foreman-Murray. “We’ve already started to compile a list of tools to buy. We can never keep our most popular tools in stock; as our membership has grown, our available tools haven’t kept up. These funds will help us to ensure that things like table saws and weed whackers are on the shelves when people need them.”

The tool library also began the planning of their expanded education offerings, according to Foreman-Murray. “We’re really looking forward to providing community members with the knowledge they need to use our tools to improve their lives,” he wrote.

Visit the West Philly Tool Library website for more news, updates and information on how to become a member.

Homestead Exemption Map created by Aaron Kreider. Source: http://www.campusactivism.org/

Have you applied for the Homestead Exemption yet? Just a reminder that this exemption can save homeowners up to $400 on their annual taxes and the deadline for application is on Saturday, Sept 13.

Aaron Kreider, the West Philly based activist and programmer who built JusticeMap.org, has recently created a Homestead Exemption Map. The map is an estimate of qualified properties in the city that haven’t applied for the homestead exemption. The map is based on Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment data from April 2014.

“A while ago I read a NewsWorks story that an estimated 30% of homeowners haven’t applied for the homestead exemption,” Kreider wrote in an email. “So I decided to do a small project to encourage people to apply.”

Kreider, who is working with the West Philly Socialists (the West Philly branch of the Philly Socialists) who are committed to economic equality, points out that you can see on the map how low-income areas have a lower application rate (red shows eligible households who haven’t applied for the exemption; green indicates households who applied and received full homestead exemption).

Check out the map and more information at: http://www.campusactivism.org/blog/node/423

To apply for the homestead exemption online, visit this page. You call also apply over the phone: 215-686-9200.

Pieter Mostert’s Vessel.

University City Arts League, a community non-profit organization that has been serving the community for 45 years, is presenting a two-person ceramics show, “West Philly Ceramics: Ken Beidler and Pieter Mostert.” The opening reception is tonight, 6-8 p.m., at 4226 Spruce Street.

Beidler’s forms combine wheel and hand-built elements. He is a largely self-taught artist, according to the UCAL press release, who has been influenced by the original Arts and Crafts movement, urban life and his life experience in Indonesia. He has a studio at the Cedar Works and teaches at UCAL. Mostert is South African who spen the last five years in Philadelphia. He makes sculptural vessels using a combination of coiling, pinching and paddling.

The works by Beidler and Mostert will be on display at the UCAL gallery until September 26. For more information about classes offered at UCAL, visit: www.ucartsleague.org/classes.

(Photos courtesy of UCAL)

Ken Beidler’s Baskets.

Hey, have you heard the buzz? The fifth annual Philadelphia Honey Festival is this weekend and the national historic landmark Bartram’s Garden (54th and Lindbergh) is one of the venues. Bartram’s is excited to host the event again and invites everyone to celebrate bees and honey with them on Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Lots of fun and educational activities are planned: “Pollinator Defense Kitchen” with special guest artists from Mural Arts, “So You Want to be a Beekeeper?” presentation, Langstroth-style open hive demonstration, Be-A-Bee children’s parade and other kids’ activities. Also, there will be a plant sale and marketplace with local vendors, farm tour and farmers’ market. Kayak rentals will be offered by Hidden River Outfitters. Admission is free. More information and schedule is available here.

Photo courtesy of Bartram’s Garden.

Coinciding with Honey Festival, Bartram’s will also host a Bitters Cocktail Party on Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Guests are invited to enjoy the Garden in all its late summer splendor and handcrafted Bartram’s Bitters cocktails created by celebrity bartender Katie Loeb. The bitters are a Philadelphia Distilling Company creation based on a historic Bartram family recipe and Katie Loeb is Philly’s own Cocktail Queen and “farm-to-bar” pioneer. Delicious pairings of local cheeses, fruit and honey will be provided by Fair Food. Local band Noggin Hill will perform bluegrass favorites. Tickets are $25 ($20 for Bartram’s Garden members; $30 at the door) and can be purchased here.

FYI, Bartram’s Garden has limited parking and the organizers recommend traveling to both of these events by bike or public transportation (#36 Trolley).

Seriously, you need to bee there. OK, sorry, we’ll see ourselves out.

A group of millennials who hope to wield their privilege and social capital for the “redistribution of land, wealth and power” in Philadelphia and nationwide are holding an organizing meeting in West Philly on Monday, Sept. 8.

The newly formed Philly chapter of Resource Generation, a nationwide non-profit whose mission is to organize young people “with wealth and class privilege in the U.S. to become transformative leaders working toward the equitable redistribution of wealth, land and power,” according to the organization’s website.

The idea is “to convince our elected leaders to tax rich people more, creating and participating in a cross-class giving circle, and giving young, wealthy/class privileged people tools to use their positions to help redistribute land, wealth and power,” said organizer Julia Stone in an e-mail.

Locally the group is pushing for the end of tax breaks to help fund schools. “Tax us rich folks more to fund schools,” a flyer reads.

The meeting, which will include light refreshments at 6:30 p.m. and a presentation at 7 p.m., will be held at location that will be passed along to those who RSVP at RGPhillychapter@gmail.com.

We hope you are enjoying your Labor Day Holiday despite the hot and sticky weather that set in in the area. We have a few reminders.

• All government offices and public libraries are closed today in observance of the holiday.

• Post offices are closed and there is no mail delivery.

• SEPTA is operating on a Sunday schedule (visit septa.org for more information and schedule).

• There will be no trash and recycling pick-up today. Trash and recycling collections will be one day behind schedule for the rest of the week.