After Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday when people are encouraged to support not-for-profit organizations. There are so many great nonprofit organizations with many great causes in our area. We don’t want to point out any specific ones, but you can check out our Civic Life page and choose one or more organizations with a cause you’re most passionate about. Here are also Twitter messages from some local non-profits:  Continue Reading

Cedar Park Neighbors in cooperation with area churches and other nonprofit organizations, will again prepare and distribute food baskets for those in need during the holiday season. The 2017 CPN Holiday Food Drive is currently underway. The suggested donation is $36. Support at this amount will help CPN supply meals for two families.

In 2016, CPN was able to reach over 150 local families.  Continue Reading

Several West Philly businesses, including Siddiq’s Water Ice, Dynamite Pest Control, Royal Mane Boutique and others, have partnered this Thanksgiving holiday to serve a special “Giving Thanks” community dinner on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23. The dinner will be served at Siddiq’s Water Ice location at 264 S. 60th Street (in a heated tent between Locust and Spruce) from noon to 3 p.m. The food is catered by Ol’ Boys Soul Food.

Siddiq Moore has been serving real fruit water ice, ice cream and frozen yogurt near 60th and Irving since July 8, 2017 when he opened his first brick-and-mortar location, but he has been in the business since mid-90’s when he started running a water ice cart at Temple University. After opening in July, Siddiq’s Water Ice (Facebook page) received its own street marker, “Siddiq’s Water Ice Way”, from the city, recognizing Moore’s efforts to revitalize 60th Street Corridor.

An assistant to the French-Tunisian artist eL Seed puts the finishing touches on a new mural at the corner of Preston and Market (Photos by Mike Lyons, West Philly Local)

If you’ve been up around 40th and Market in the past few days, you may have noticed a lot of activity near the corner of Market and Preston. The French-Tunisian “calligraffiti” artist el Seed is painting a mural.

eL Seed and two assistants have been working on the mural day and night since Monday and, despite the theft of their paint earlier in the week, the mural will be unveiled officially tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 18) at 11 a.m. Mural Arts Philadelphia and Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture co-sponsored the piece.  Continue Reading

UC Green, the West Philly-based community greening nonprofit, will plant 46 trees throughout University City and surrounding West Philadelphia neighborhoods on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017.

UC Green planted this tree in memory Winnie Harris, UC Green Executive Director and community green space advocate who was murdered on February 2, 2017.

“The Greater Philadelphia region has lost millions of trees in recent decades to development, storms, and pests. Replacing our tree canopy is an important goal that will benefit the region for years to come,” reads a press release by the organization. It can take a lifetime for some trees to mature, so planting trees now is very important.

UC Green’s ongoing partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society supports semi-annual tree planting events like the upcoming planting on November 18th. This Fall 2017 event was funded largely through the recent More Trees Please campaign, with individual donations accruing to exceed the targeted goal of $11,000.

“We are particularly grateful to the UC Green volunteers and sponsors whose generous financial contributions enable us to plant all of the approved trees in our area,” said Edwin Datz, UC Green Board President. He added, “We are eager to continue our work honoring the legacy of our Executive Director Winnie Harris, who was tragically murdered last February. Recent developments in the criminal investigation provide our UC Green family with some closure. Winnie’s memory will drive our community greening efforts for many years to come.” (Editor’s Note: Read more about Winnie Harris’s murder investigation here).

UC Green joins hundreds of PHS Tree Tenders and other volunteers from 60 neighborhoods and communities to jointly plant 400 trees in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney will be a featured speaker at an upcoming Spruce Hill Community Association’s annual meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the Penn Alexander School Cafeteria (43rd and Locust). The mayor will address the future of the former Provident Mutual Life Insurance Building at 4601 Market (pictured).

The site was chosen by former mayor Michael Nutter administration for the new police headquarters and has been undergoing renovations since 2014. But, the Kenney administration canceled the plans to relocate the Police Headquarters to the site in the spring of 2017. In August, the city began seeking a new developer for the site.  Continue Reading