West Philly resident Susan, who lives at the corner of St. Bernard and Springfield, lost the entire third floor of her home in a devastating fire last Saturday. Two of her cats died in the fire. Intense water damage has rendered the lower two stories and the basement unlivable for now.

While Susan is temporarily staying with friends, her remaining cats are still residing in the house as they have nowhere else to go. Susan is looking for temporary housing for them. She writes:

“…kitties are all freaked and living under rather unhealthful conditions, with the noisy and major internal work now underway, still smoky air, very wet floors, mold starting to grow, etc. I am trying to find foster homes, even for one or two, here and there, for about eight weeks, until they say we can all move back in. They are all sweet cats, great company, very people-oriented, and cuddly — especially warm when the weather starts to turn cold. Can anyone open their homes for a furry feline for a couple of months? I would gladly pay for food and other supplies during their stay… So, far, I have one volunteer for one cat. Believe me you would enjoy their presence… I have always found them comforting.”

If you’d like to help Susan, or know someone who might, please write her at: susaniris [at] msn.com or call 215-435-5273.

West Philly parents! Bring your kids to Clark Park “A” (43rd & Baltimore) this Saturday, Oct. 1, to join fall fun at the Scarecrow Festival organized by the Parent-Infant Center (PIC). At the festival, show your creativity by making your own scarecrow.

All the materials necessary for creating and dressing up your scarecrow will be provided for $10. The money will go to support PIC’s family programs.

The festival will begin at 10 a.m. and will go on until noon. For more information contact Rachel at: rcrossot [at] parentinfantcenter.org.

We’d like to spread the word we received from Niesha Kennedy, a volunteer neighborhood cleanup coordinator with Philadelphia Community Corps/United Philly. Niesha is in charge of scouting locations and taking requests for and organizing cleanups from beginning to end.

Niesha’s first cleanup is scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 1, at 53rd and Delancey (between Pine and Spruce), from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The block is small, with senior residents who want to help clean it. But more people are needed to make this work. All cleaning supplies will be provided. See the flyer below for more details of the cleanup.

Locust Moon Comics and Movies store is no longer at their location at 4040 Locust Street. But no worries – we learned that they simply moved to a new location in University City and are planning to reopen on October 1.

The new address has not been revealed yet. We’ll keep you posted about it.

The Project Theater Project (PTP), a community-based theater company that produces quality alternative amateur theater, is working on the production of the school edition of the rock opera RENT that will be staged here in West Philly. PTP’s objective is to foster positive social change and cultural development in our community by working with diverse and underrepresented groups, such as youth, the elderly, and the disabled. Local high school students were invited to participate in the auditions for this show.

Now that the auditions are over a fundraising campaign is underway to help make this production successful. PTP has set up a fundraising Indiegogo page for this purpose. Although the costs of attaining the rights have already been covered through the partnership with The Rotunda, they need to raise more money to help pay for staff, sets, sound, costumes and some other necessities. The goal is to raise $3,000 by the end of November.

In another fundraising effort PTP is hosting a benefit concert at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.) on Friday, Sept. 30. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature a wide range of local music artists, bands, theater companies, and teens from the show. For the full lineup check this page.

RENT School Edition is the second show produced by PTP (the first one was William Finn’s “March of The Falsettos” in 2008). The show tickets will not exceed $10 for adults and will be free for educational institutions and other community groups. Here’s a video interview with PTP director Rich Wexler about this project:

Tipped by one of our readers we learned that our beautiful Cedar Park has been vandalized. It happened earlier this week. As the Cedar Park Neighbors website reports, “someone callously and deliberately tore out more than a dozen plants and native grasses that surrounded the memorial and traffic triangle garden on the eastern side of Cedar Park.”

As a result, the park lost its collection of coneflowers, autumn joy sedum, black-eyed susans, and day lillies. Sadly, the work of so many neighbors was destroyed. The Cedar Park Neighbors Association is determined to fix the damaged portions of the park and to replace the stolen or destroyed plants as quickly as possible. But for that, they need to raise several hundred dollars and are asking for help.

To see more pictures of the damage and to donate please go to this page.