Enjoy a lot of chili and help a local pottery studio this Sunday, March 18 at University City Arts League’s annual Chili Bowl fundraiser. The event will be held from 1 – 5 p.m. at 4226 Spruce Street. Here’s how it works.

You can eat all the chili you want, just pay for the hand-crafted chili bowl made by Arts League potters. You can also vote for the best chili maker among neighbors (there will be an amateur competition between about 10 neighborhood residents).

It is a really fun event, with music and raffles, so make sure to bring your kids. It’s also an opportunity to learn more about the Arts League. If you’ve never been there before, you are welcome to take a look around or you can even get a tour.

Yards Brewery will be providing beer for the event. A bowl plus all you can eat chili will be $20. For more information, visit ucartsleague.org or call 215-382-7811.

Dock Street’s West Philly T-Shirt contest is still on and West Philly-based artists are encouraged to participate. You can submit your design through Saturday, March 17. The winner will be announced on March 28.

Apart from seeing your friends and neighbors wearing a tee with your work of art, you can win free beer for a week – 14 drink coupons or two beers per day!

The design can be based around the brewpub, a specific beer or Dock Street beers in general.

Here are the rules:

1. Any West Philadelphia-based artist/illustrator/designer can enter.
2. All entries must be black and white.
3. Art must be submitted electronically (.pdf, .ai, .jpg, .png, .tiff, .gif)
4. There are no entry fees.
5. Submissions will be judged on creativity, style, printability and representation of Dock Street.
6. Dock Street Staff will vote on top 3 and announce on March 20. Once they’ve selected the top 3, they’ll open the voting on their website, Facebook and Twitter and at the brewpub on March 28.
7. The winner gets their artwork printed on a run of Dock Street tees and receives 4 t-shirts for their trophy case, free beer for a week (14 drink vouchers) and a bottle of one of Dock Street’s limited release beers. And of course, bragging rights!

Also, please send the following to dockstreetinfo [at] gmail.com:

-Name
-Address
-Telephone
-Email Address
-Preferred canvas for art

On Saturday, March 10, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. the West Philly Tool Library is holding its Fourth Annual Garage Sale and Tool Drive. Hundreds of tools will be on sale, most of them as cheap as $1.

The Tool Library also accepts donations, so if you have tools in your basement that you no longer need, especially power tools, bring them along. Note: donations to the Tool Library are tax-deductible.

Finally, this is a great opportunity to become a member or renew your membership. More information about the Tool Library membership can be found here.

The Tool Library is located in a warehouse at 1314 South 47th Street, just south of Woodland Avenue.

On Saturday, March 10, a Red Cross blood drive will be held at St. Francis de Sales School auditorium (above Springfield Ave. at 917 S. 47th St.). By donating blood you can help three people at one time.

Please call 215-222-2255 and leave a message with your name and phone number. You will be called to arrange a convenient time, since many time slots are already filled.

Yoga instructor and Mariposa Food Co-op member Michal Waldfogel will be teaching a donation Vinyasa yoga class at Wake Up Yoga (4916 Baltimore Ave) to raise funds for the Mariposa Co-op expansion. The class will be held on Saturday, March 31, 1-2:30 p.m. Bring a monetary donation, or sign up on this afternoon to become a member of Mariposa. No pre-registration is required.

This is an open level vinyasa class, appropriate for all levels of practitioners. For more information on the class, visit this page. To read more about the Mariposa Expansion Project, click here.

Here’s one delicious way to help stray cats and kittens in West Philadelphia. City Kitties, a local non-profit volunteer-run feline rescue organization, are bringing back their favorite fundraising event – Cooking with Cat Ladies. The event will take place the evening of Saturday, March 10, at a volunteer’s home.

The hostess, who is an extraordinary cook, will prepare a mouth-watering five-course feast for the event guests. A $50 ticket purchase reserves your seat at the table, where you will enjoy the dinner and the company of other City Kitties volunteers and cat lovers. The menu is not yet finalized, but it will be vegetarian with vegan and gluten-free options.

Seats are limited and City Kitties would like to fill up the table by this Thursday, March 1, so don’t delay in purchasing your ticket. To check out the menu and to reserve your seat, visit this page.