Winter holidays are approaching fast, and residents have a chance to make them brighter for local kids by donating toys. One of local holiday toy drives is being hosted by the Office of Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District). There are two ways to donate:

First, toys can be purchased online from one of these toy registries: https://bit.ly/3rdDriveTarget or https://bit.ly/3rdDriveAmazon.

New, unwrapped toys can also be dropped off at the 3rd District Office at 606 S. 52nd Street on Mondays-Thursdays from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Donations are accepted until Dec. 14. Toy giveaway will be held on Saturday, Dec. 16 from 12-3 p.m.

See the flyer for more details.

Stay tuned for information on more holiday drives in West Philly.

The annual Philadelphia Marathon returns this weekend, with events taking place from Friday, Nov. 17 through Sunday, Nov. 19. Two main events, a half-marathon and marathon will be held on Saturday and Sunday respectively. As always, the marathon events that draw thousands of visitors and participants, will shut down many roads in the city. Here is a summary of what roads and streets in West Philly will be closed to accommodate runners. Also, check out information below on cheer zones. Race maps are available here.

Both races kick off at Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 7 a.m.

Cheering zones for Saturday’s Half-Marathon:

• 33rd and Walnut Street
• 33rd and Market Street
• 34th and Girard Avenue (Philadelphia Zoo)

Continue Reading

The Gray 30th Street Station after renovation (an artist rendering).

Community members are invited this Thursday to a Public Open House meeting to learn more about a major renovation project at the William H. Gray III 30th Street Station. The meeting will take place from 4-7 p.m. on November 16 at the station (behind Amtrak Ticket Office). It is hosted by Amtrak and Plenary Infrastructure Philadelphia (PIP), the private contractor that will implement and maintain the station improvements for the next 50 years as part of a public-private partnership agreement.

The project is being implemented in phases. The design phase began in 2021 and the construction phase, which is also divided in phases/milestones, is scheduled to begin this Fall. Amtrak operations will continue during the renovation period.

Continue Reading

The Halloween candy contest results are in and the most popular treat among West Philly kids is… not Reese’s! Read on to find out what it is.

Penn students involved with the Halloween Data Project went to the Spruce Hill Halloween Tot parade and hung around during the trick-or-treating festivities and were able to record lots of creative costumes and kids’ opinions (266 in total!) on their favorite candy and least favorite candy. The students compiled all of their data into an interactive dashboard for kids and parents to see all the different answers in the community: West Philly Candy Dashboard (Panbo App was used to create it).

To personalize the dashboard for West Philly, the students created digital drawings, a mascot named Panbo that explains the data, and a thank you note at the very end that names every individual costume they saw. The dashboard itself presents the data collected in many different ways: a cluster map with each individual response, bar graphs showing the rankings of the candy, and interactive pie charts that help you see correlations between certain costumes and their favorite form and flavor of candy.

Continue Reading

Residents of the neighborhoods surrounding West Fairmount Park have a chance to help shape the future of the park and the Centennial District. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation is currently working with the Fairmount Park Conservancy, The Mann Center, Philadelphia Zoo, and the Please Touch Museum on a new planning initiative which includes improvements of the park experience for visitors and residents.

A “community-led framework for how to be more inclusive and fair in future park investments”  used in the planning process.

As the plan affects communities it needs to be developed with communities. Therefore, The Centennial Subdistrict Design Plan team is looking for paid Community Ambassadors to be a part of the process.

Continue Reading

From November 16 – 19, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and over 90 of its PHS Tree Tenders groups, community organizations, and neighborhood volunteers will come together to plant 1,770 trees throughout the Greater Philadelphia region, including in West Philly neighborhoods.

Through this semi-annual initiative, PHS creates and enhances tree canopy in neighborhoods across the Philadelphia region to promote healthier, greener communities. These trees will help develop vital tree canopy in the region, where tree canopy averages only 20 percent, with some neighborhoods having as little as 2.5 percent tree canopy coverage.

Volunteers are still needed to help plant trees in their neighborhoods, and no prior experience is necessary to participate in a planting event. All interested participants can sign up to get involved with a planting event near them at https://phsonline.org/programs/tree-programs/get-involved.

Continue Reading