This Saturday is the official Spring Cleanup Day in Philadelphia, when hundreds of volunteers will lend their hand in cleaning and beautifying streets, parks and lots all around the city. A lot of trash, leaves and dirt built up everywhere over the long winter, so this is a good chance to remove them in a good company of your friends and neighbors.

We have reported about the Spring cleanup being organized by Cedar Park Neighbors on Saturday. Here are some other opportunities.

University City Community Cleanup:

University City District will be organizing a few focused efforts throughout the neighborhood and will be happy to assist anyone interested in participating by providing trash bags, brooms, work gloves, and trash pickup. To sign up please contact UCD at cleanandsafe@universitycity.org or 215-243-0555.

Spring Cleanup in Powelton:

Other cleanup projects:

Philadelphia Streets Department’s website has a map of registered cleanup projects throughout the city. You can select a project near your home and sign up to volunteer.

Join Rebuilding Together Philadelphia

Hundreds of volunteers from Rebuilding Together Philadelphia will be out this Saturday in Mantua repairing homes for low-income residents, including two veterans of the US Armed Forces. The house rehabilitation project, which began last weekend, also includes enhancing home facades, beautifying streets, and improvement of stormwater management.

Photo courtesy of Rebuilding Together Philadelphia.

Do you need a new recycling bin? Stop by Clark Park “A” on Saturday, April 5 to get one and also to drop off your old or unwanted electronics. The recycling bin giveaway event will be hosted by neighborhood Girl Scout troops: the 34th Woodland Ranger Otter Scouts (B-PSA) and Daisy Troop 91569 (GS-USA) in support of the 7th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup.

Electronics recycling is organized by eForce Compliance (big thanks to them for doing it again in the hood!). Please note that the following items will NOT be accepted: light bulbs, batteries, smoke detectors, TVs, or monitors.

The event will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.. Clark Park “A” is located on Baltimore Ave between 43rd and 44th streets.

If you have questions or want to help out, contact Amy Kwasnicki at: kwaszilla@gmail.com

Two West Philly schools are holding community forums this week and your participation and input are important.

– Greening Lea, a project of West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools (WPCNS), is at the center of discussion on Wednesday, from 5:30 – 7 p.m. at the Henry C. Lea School Auditorium (4700 Locust, enter through the small playground on Locust). Participants will be asked about their vision for Lea’s new playground being designed by SALT Design Studio. The studio seeks input from parents, students, teachers, and the community on the project.

Greening Lea began the process in early 2012 with a master plan and vision to revitalize the Lea schoolyards. Your help is needed as they are moving forward with the first stage of the project. Please answer the following questions and email your responses to: jscott1225@verizon.net or bring them to tonight’s meeting:

• What is ONE thing you love about your neighborhood?
• What is ONE thing you don’t like about your neighborhood?
• If you could make a change, what is the ONE thing you would change in your neighborhood?

More information on Greening Lea and tonight’s meeting can be found on the WPCNS website.

– On Thursday, April 3, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., the Paul Robeson High School for Human Services (4125 Ludlow St) will conduct its first Neighborhood Summit. The purpose of the summit is to determine the best way Paul Robeson High School can join with parents and community partners to improve the culture of the school and its community. All are invited! The format will be “chat and chew,” with informal discussions led by students and faculty.

Two big community events are happening in the Cedar Park neighborhood this weekend (April 5-6).

A Spring Clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. to wake up the gardens at Cedar Park (49th-50th & Baltimore). Lots of volunteers are needed to help with rose bushes and grasses and clean out the garden beds for future mulching and planting. Tools and gloves will be provided. If you have clippers to bring that would be helpful. If you want to join your neighbors this Saturday please RSVP at: https://www.facebook.com/events/686153788112115/

The annual Cedar Park Neighbors Scholarship Fundraiser on will again bring together local residents and businesses in an effort to help neighborhood youth who want to continue their education after graduation from high school. The CPN Scholarship Fundraiser is a great opportunity to mingle with your neighbors, friends and business people and enjoy music by local musicians and food prepared by neighborhood restaurants. Here are more details (from the CPN website):

What: Live music for all ages with West Philly based singer-songwriter Gretchen Elise, beer by Dock Street Brewing Company, wine, and food from Aksum, Fu Wah, The Gold Standard Café, and Dock Street. We’ll also have a Silent Auction to include handmade crafts, jewelry, museum tickets, gift certificates to local restaurants, and much more! Children will enjoy kids’ music and activities from 4-5 p.m.
When: Sunday, April 6 from 4-6 p.m.
Where: The Cedar Works, 4919 Pentridge Street (South of Baltimore, between 48th & 49th 49th & 50th)
Cost: Tickets are $40 and available online or at the door. Kids under 12 are free. To purchase tickets or make a donation, complete the form on this page.

Photo courtesy of Make Music Philly’s website

This summer, Make Music Philly (MMP) will return for its second year of spreading good vibes and tunes across the city. The organizers behind MMP, though, want to make the free one-day festival on June 21 bigger than the inaugural showing, and they’re looking for your help.

Early this month, Make Music Philly launched its first-ever Kickstarter Campaign, “You Make Music Philly,” to raise funds for marketing, social media and advertising efforts that will cast MMP’s net even wider this year. So far, since launching, Make Music Philly 2014 has raised a little over $1,700 of its lofty $20,000 goal. The fundraiser has 10 more days to go, ending on Friday, April 11.

“The inaugural Make Music Philly was by all counts a huge success,” Natalie Diener, coordinator for this year’s MMP event, told West Philly Local.  “Our biggest hope for year two is for Make Music Philly to reach beyond the boundaries of Center City—for each neighborhood to really take ownership of the MMP events in their area.”

According to Diener, part of the goal this year is to double the number of citywide events to 300 (last year, there were 150 performances and 50 involved organizations). Kickstarter donations will be used to achieved this goal by funding an improved website, print marketing materials like this flier, media advertising, and tee shirts for attendees, volunteers and donors.

“The best way for us to reach into every neighborhood and across every demographic is to get the festival’s name out there in every media,” said Diener. “Our neighborhood outreach is being done entirely grassroots right now. We are making great strides to get new venues and artists involved, but the Kickstarter funds would be a tremendous help.”

Like last year, Make Music Philly will kick off at 8 a.m. and end at 8 p.m., and include all the do-it-yourself ingenuity Make Music Day—of which MMP is a part—is known for, for free. But there is one change: MMP will hold a grand finale spectacular at Penn’s Landing at the close of the june 21 festival, said Diener.

Interested venues and musicians can login and sign up here to register for Make Music Philly 2014. For more information, visit makemusicphilly.org or check out MMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

–Annamarya Scaccia

AUNI alumni (Photo via AUNI website).

The wonderful young folks from the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI), a school-based program of the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships, are hosting a delicious fundraiser on Saturday, March 29. The annual Eats and Beats community dinner is an event that showcases youth leadership and skills and also helps raise funds for AUNI’s High School Internship Program.

West Philly Local wrote about AUNI’s youth efforts to grow and sell organic food in West Philadelphia. AUNI also offers healthy cooking lessons to high-school students and older community members and teaches how to tend to school gardens and operate farmers markets and CSAs.

Eats and Beats serves a locally sourced, 4-course organic meal prepared and grown by youth interns, featuring ingredients from local farms, restaurants and businesses, including Bon Appetit, Franklin Fountain, Guacamole, Milk and Honey, Lancaster Farm Fresh, John and Kira’s Chocolates, Little Baby’s Ice Cream, Pure Fare and Tara’s Catering. The event will also include live entertainment and speakers, a silent auction and raffle with gift certificates to restaurants, yoga, fitness and cooking classes, and locally-made arts and crafts.

The event will take place at the Mantua Haverford Community Center (631 N. 39th Street) from 5:30-8:30 p.m.. Suggested minimum donation is $25. Click here for more information and to RSVP.