The annual “Love Your Park” Fall Service Day is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 12, and Philadelphia Parks and Rec is now recruiting volunteers who can help clean, green and celebrate Philly’s parks. Overall, 2,000 volunteers are needed to help plant trees, collect leaves for compost, clean up trash and litter, and more.

There are many beautiful parks in West Philly, and volunteers can sign up to participate in the fall service day in their neighborhood park. Kids, families and large groups are welcome.

Go to loveyourpark.org or call (215) 683-3689 for participating parks and to register.

Photo courtesy of the Bicycle Coalition

UPDATE: Ride for Reading has been postponed until Thursday, May 12 due to rain in the forecast for Tuesday.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is hosting a variety of events for Bike Month this month. On Tuesday, May 10 Thursday, May 12 they are hosting their fourth annual Ride for Reading, which will support Andrew Hamilton Elementary School in West Philadelphia.

Currently, the Bicycle Coalition is recruiting volunteers who can help transport books to the school located at 56th and Spruce. Volunteers will gather at Rittenhouse Square at 7:45 a.m. The ride will be followed by a short presentation about healthy minds and healthy bodies at 9 a.m., and then the volunteers will distribute the books to children. Every child will take home at least one book.

The mission of Ride for Reading is to promote literacy and healthy living by donating books via bicycle to schools. Check out this link for more info and to sign up.

Thanks to the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC), 13 local schools that lost their librarian due to budget cuts, now have a library run by volunteers. On Monday, one of these schools, Morton McMichael school in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, hosted well-known local children’s author and illustrator Andy Myer. WePAC arranged the visit.

Myer spoke with a group of fourth grade students about his life as a writer and illustrator and the process to move from concept to published book.

“The children were mesmerized, and they were especially excited to each get a copy of Myer’s latest book [Henry Hubble’s Book of Troubles] signed by the author himself,” writes Heather Farber, WePAC Interim Executive Director.  Continue Reading

Photo courtesy UC Green.

Each spring and fall, UC Green volunteers plant hundreds of street trees in West Philadelphia neighborhoods. This Saturday (Apr. 23), volunteers are needed to help UC Green beautify Powelton by planting 85 trees in the area. Work starts at 9 a.m. at the Dornsife Center (3509 Spring Garden St.) and will continue until approximately 1 p.m. All the tools will be provided. But that’s not all – you’ll also get a free lunch!

If you’re interested in helping out, please RSVP to reserve your spot on a Tree Planting Team by emailing wharris@ucgreen.org or call for more information 215 476 0124.

For more information on all the wonderful work UC Green does in the area, visit their website: www.ucgreen.org.

The city will hold its 9th annual Spring Cleanup on Saturday, Apr. 16 (rescheduled from Apr. 9 due to inclement weather forecast). More than 800 cleanup projects have been registered throughout the city, including dozens in West Philadelphia. Community involvement is essential and many projects are still seeking volunteers. Residents are also encouraged to step outside their buildings, pick up trash and remove debris or check out empty lots nearby for litter.

To find a registered cleanup project near you and to volunteer, go here or click on the map image below:

In addition to these projects, Philadelphia Free Library branches are also holding Spring Cleanups this Saturday, from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. You can find your local branch here.  Continue Reading

Photo from Unitedbyblue.com

Each year, United by Blue, a Philadelphia-based urban-outdoor apparel and home goods brand, organizes cleanups of and around various waterways. To date, they have cleaned over a quarter million pounds of trash across 23 states and 2 countries.

On Tuesday, March 1, the company, which recently opened a store at 3421 Walnut Street, is hosting its annual Schuylkill River cleanup at Bartram’s Garden, where volunteers from local universities, businesses, environmental groups and neighbors of Bartram’s Garden will get together to remove a winter’s worth of trash.

Volunteers will be supplied with water, gloves, bags, and compete for prizes. All participants are invited to City Tap House-University City immediately following the cleanup for free pizza and drink specials.

The cleanup will take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and volunteers will meet near the parking lot at the top of Bartrams Garden (5400 Lindbergh Blvd.), to the left of the Welcome Center.

For more information and to sign up for Tuesday’s cleanup, go here.