This Monday, three important community meetings are scheduled in West Philadelphia, and residents are encouraged to participate.

Cedar Park Neighbors Annual Meeting – 7 p.m – Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th and Baltimore). Read more about the meeting’s agenda here.

UPDATE: POSTPONED UNTIL MON, APR 25: Friends of Clark Park General Membership Meeting – 7 p.m. – University of the Sciences, Griffith Hall (Lecture Hall A), 43rd and Woodland (see map here). Bring your questions and concerns, and find out what’s happening in the park.

Powelton Village Civic Association Monthly Meeting – 7:30 p.m. – 3500 Baring Street. On the agenda are two Dornsife / Drexel lawyers talking about deed restrictions and ways to sell one’s house to a single family.

The Cedar Park Neighbors Community Association is inviting community members to hear reports on their activities over the past year at their annual meeting on Monday, Apr. 18. Representatives from CPN’s committees on Zoning, Jazz, Scholarships, Holiday Baskets, and the Park will be available to talk about CPN’s work in these areas.

In addition, attendees will get lightning round updates on lots of cool things happening in and around the neighborhood. There will be five-minute presentations from:

• Ryan Kuck, Greensgrow West, talking about this summer’s expansion plans

• Akeem Dixon, 52nd Street Commercial Corridor Manager, discussing recent developments on the street

• Jeff Wicklund, The Enterprise Center, providing an update on the Common Table and the Culinary Center at 48th and Spruce

• Kittson O’Neill, Shakespeare in Clark Park, previewing this summer’s presentation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona
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UPDATE (April 15, 2016): If you wanted to pre-order your plants at the annual Parent Infant Center’s Plant Sale, but didn’t get a chance yet, here’s good news: Pre-sale deadline has been extended through Monday, Apr. 18. Please go to http://picplantsale.org/ to browse the selection of plants and to make your purchase.

A large variety of annuals, perennials, fruits & veggies, herbs and other plants is currently available for pre-order at the annual Parent Infant Center (PIC) Spring Plant Sale. The sale will be held on April 29 and 30 at the beautiful St. Andrews Chapel (42nd and Spruce), which will be turned into a pop-up garden center that weekend.

This annual event supports PIC’s Tuition Assistance Fund. About 100 volunteers help prepare and run the sale.

Over 100 varieties of plants are available for online pre-order, and you can pick up your order on Thursday, April 28 (for orders over $250), or during the sale on Friday, April 29, 4-6 p.m. and on Saturday, April 30, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. There are also $1 raffle tickets available for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Talula’s Garden.

For more information about the sale at St. Andrews Chapel (42nd and Spruce), visit: http://www.parentinfantcenter.org/support-pic/plant-sale

An organization tasked with helping to settle Afghan, Syrian and Congolese refugees arriving in the city is looking for donations of everything from mentorship and language teachers to dishes and used furniture.

Jess Hinchey of the Nationalities Service Center (NSC) told the Spruce Hill Community Association Board last night that some 600-800 refugees a year settle in Philadelphia, many in West Philly.

She said that the organization is always looking for volunteer help and donations.

An SHCA board member suggested taking advantage of “Penn Christmas,” when departing students  leave behind furniture and other items on the street at the semester’s end, to provide items for refugees.

More information about volunteering and donations is available at the NSC website here. You can also email Michelle Fauber at: mfauber@nscphila.org

A few community meetings will be held this week – in the Spruce Hill and Walnut Hill neighborhoods – where residents can learn more and ask questions about public safety, development projects, and other important issues.

Two meetings are scheduled at Spruce Hill Community Association’s office at 257 S. 45th St this week:

• SHCA Board Meeting will take place tonight (Tuesday, Apr. 12) at 7:30 p.m., and the guest speaker is Jess Hinchey, a volunteer coordinator at Refugee Corps.

• SHCA Zoning meeting is on Wednesday, Apr. 13, and has the following agenda:  Continue Reading

Samuel Powel Elementary School students and teachers are planning a series of marches against gun violence and are inviting the community to join them.

“4th graders at Powel School… have been studying Gun Violence in our neighborhoods and city this year. They have decided that they wanted to march through our communities to raise awareness about gun violence,” writes teacher Joe Alberti.

The 4th graders at Powel will be marching through Powelton and Mantua on Thursday, April 21 from 1-2 p.m.

They will be marching up 36th St. to Spring Garden, then up 35th St. to Aspen before walking down 37th St. and back to school, located at 301 N. 36th St. The children created fliers about the march to invite neighbors. Here’s one of them:  Continue Reading