University City Kiwanis, a local chapter of international service club that unites young professionals in the Philadelphia area, is organizing a great charity event this upcoming Saturday and invites everyone to participate. Registration is now open for the 4th Annual Kiwanis International Charity Kickball Social (KICKS) which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19, from noon-4 p.m. in West Fairmount Park (Belmont Plateau, 2000 Belmont Mansion Drive). Proceeds from the event will benefit Cradles to Crayons, a non-profit organization that provides essentials to homeless and low-income children in Philadelphia. Prizes and raffles will also be available.

Registration fee is $20 if you register before midnight on Friday, Oct 18 or $25 onsite (11 a.m.-noon). The fees include games, lunch and a t-shirt. Click here to register for the event. More information about the event and University City Kiwanis is available here. For questions, email: kicks@uckiwanis.com.

(Photo via uckiwanis.com)

As we reported earlier, a 23-year-old man was shot multiple times and killed at the intersection of 54th Street and Florence Avenue on Sunday night. Police identified the man as Devin Hatch, who lived on the 5600 block of Florence Avenue. Five other men were wounded in the shooting, one critically. A crowd of people was outside Los Papi Deli & Grocery at 54th Street and Florence Avenue around 7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6, when a group of four to five gunmen walked up to the corner and opened fire, according to reports.

Devin’s friends and neighbors took to social media to express their grief (#ripdev). According to several tweets, a candlelight vigil for Devin will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the scene of the shooting at 54th and Florence.

The activist group West Philly Food Not Bombs will start serving free food at Malcolm X Park every Friday, beginning today, according to their Facebook page. Some of our readers may know these folks as they used to provide free food to neighbors at the A-Space community center (Facebook page) on Baltimore Ave. The group said that free food, cooked and fresh, will be available every Friday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the park.
Tonight is the last summer jazz concert at Malcolm X Park and West Philly Food Not Bombs will be “off to the side serving food.” Huey Middle School students with the instructors and University of Pennsylvania interns will be helping out too.

Community Connector program volunteers. Photo courtesy of PEC.

There are a patchwork of community groups, improvement districts and major institutions trying to distribute news to their constituents in West Philadelphia, from fliers piled in the entranceway of a local church to email chains and Facebook pages.

Some of these efforts, such as the University City District’s (UCD) printed newsletter, have achieved widespread distribution and are commonly seen at coffee shops stacked next to the latest weekly newspapers.

But without the resources of the UCD, how can community groups get important news like road closings or information about available services out into the community?

The People’s Emergency Center (PEC) is experimenting with a model that enlists members of the community to distribute the news themselves.

PEC’s Community Connector program drops off informational materials on a bi-weekly basis to volunteers located in the neighborhoods of Belmont, Mantua, West Powelton, Saunders Park, Mill Creek and Powelton Village.

The volunteers then distribute the materials to every house within a four block radius of their home. Volunteers must also hand in a completed log sheet when new materials are delivered and are invited to attend monthly meetings.

“We believe that direct face-to-face interaction is one of the most effective methods for disseminating information and building credible relationships with a community,” said Cassandra Green, manager of community outreach and partnerships at PEC.

The idea for the program was pioneered by The Enterprise Center in the Walnut Hill neighborhood. PEC was able to replicate it through the support of the Philadelphia Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a local branch of the federal community development organization.

PEC was intent on figuring out a way to better get news out to the community because it wanted residents to know about its wide variety of programs addressing housing, unemployment, financial counseling and social services.

“Without knowing what assistance is available many residents who are eligible simply miss out,” Green said. “Information about these resources should be disseminated in the most direct way possible – through one-on-one human contact.”

For more information, contact Cassandra Green at 267-777-5893 or cgreen@pec-cares.org.

–Alex Vuocolo

West Philly squatter Jessica Meyers now officially owns this rowhome (with the red bench) near 52nd and Funston.

Awesome news for Jessica Meyers, the heroine of our story “Jessica Meyers, squatter-turned-homeowner, wins bid for home, and loses donations,” originally published in July, 2013. Her dream of home ownership officially came true last week when she paid off the remainder of the auction balance owed for the abandoned rowhome at 52nd and Funston where she had squatted for the past eight years. The Public Housing Authority signed over the deed to the house last Wednesday, NBC Philadelphia reported.

Jessica says going to closing was “amazing.”

“I can’t believe it came to realization and that I came up with the money in two months. It’s a true testament to not giving up,” Jessica told West Philly Local. Jessica landed the winning bid for the legally-abandoned PHA-owned site in July, and had to come up with the remainder, which she partially raised through two online fundraisers, money she received from friends, part-time jobs and selling some of her belongings at flea markets. Some of her friends, though, told her during the two months to just give up. But she didn’t.

Jessica is now putting together a press packet with a letter of request for donation to building material companies like Home Depot, Lowe’s and local lumber yards stating why she needs building materials.

Halloween is just around the corner and many families are starting preparations – stocking up on candy, purchasing or making costumes and decorating their homes. Some less fortunate families, including the homeless families assisted by local nonprofit Families Forward (FFP), will need help creating memories for their children this October that will last a lifetime.

FFP is organizing an annual Halloween Party and expect to have over 100 children in attendance. You can help make it a memorable event by donating the following items:

• New or gently used costumes (clean and in good condition)
• Snacks (chips, pretzels, juice, and cookies)
• Candy
• Halloween decorations
• Toys or stickers
• Toothpaste, toothbrushes and dental floss

If you have friends, family members, co-workers or neighbors who may have old costumes lying around, ask them to donate them to the children at FFP. With your contribution these children will be able to dress up in their costumes just like other kids for the Halloween party on October 31.

You may drop off donations at FFP’s emergency shelter located at 111 N. 49th Street any day of the week before 7:00 p.m.

To coordinate a drive or donate any of these items above contact Grace Hightower, Director of Fund Development at 215-240-4828 or ghightower@familiesforwardphilly.org.