This Saturday (Oct. 20), join your neighbors and friends for the annual late fall Community Cleanup. Residents are encouraged to step outside their homes, offices, or schools and pick up leaves and trash. You can also help clean up your nearby park, or empty lot.

University City District will be organizing a few focused efforts throughout the neighborhood and can assist anyone interested in participating by providing trash bags, brooms, work gloves, and trash pickup.

To sign up for the cleanup, please contact UCD at cleanandsafe@universitycity.org or 215-243-0555.

If you live between 45th and 52nd Streets and Locust and Cedar Avenues, Garden Court Community Association (GCCA) is your neighborhood association and you are invited to the general community meeting next Thursday (Oct. 25).

Here’s the GCCA meeting announcement:

Please join us at our next general community meeting:

GCCA General Community Meeting
Thursday, October 25, 2012
7:00 – 9:00 PM at 4725 Chestnut Street (Community College)

• Help us set goals for the year; tell us what you like and don’t like about our neighborhood.

• Do we need a Town Watch? Learn what’s involved from Tara Smith, Community Support Specialist for Philadelphia Town Watch Integrated Services.

• Learn how to develop a Household Emergency Plan from the City’s Office of Emergency Management.

• Meet our new officers and committee chairs.

• Hear updates on Lea School, Parks, Planning and Zoning, Business District.

• Enjoy refreshments and meet new neighbors!

For more information, contact Kate Mills, Corresponding Secretary, at katewmills@gmail.com or 267-254-3078.

Over the summer we wrote about the Future of Cedar Park survey distributed in the neighborhood by the Cedar Park Neighbors association. If you live or own a business in Cedar Park and haven’t participated in the survey yet, you are encouraged to do it this week. The deadline is Friday, Oct. 12, 5 p.m.

Neighbors’ input on the future of the neighborhood is very helpful as a committee of Cedar Park Neighbors board members is preparing for an important meeting with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission which will be convening a steering committee to create a new plan for Southwest Philadelphia and University City.

“Already, we’ve heard from 400 Cedar Park Neighbors about what they want for their community. If you haven’t responded yet, please do so today. It only takes a couple minutes and we want to make sure your voice is heard!” wrote Cedar Park Neighbors president Michael Froehlich in an email.

To access the survey online, please follow this link.

Police and local clergy members started going door to door talking to residents in an effort to tackle crime in the area. Last night they were particularly targeting the 19th Police District, ABC6 reports. The goal of this new initiative is to let residents in high crime areas know about what’s happening in their neighborhood, to hear from them about trouble spots and to see what police can do to help. “We want to know from residents if they’re having any problems; poor lighting, abandoned vehicles, vacant property,” Inspector Dennis Wilson told ABC.

Police are also talking to neighbors-property owners about what they should do to protect their property more effectively and encouraging businesses to install surveillance cameras and to register them with the city.

Next week the police are supposed to knock on doors of the 18th District‘s residents.

Community members will join hands tomorrow morning along Woodland Avenue, from 52nd to 70th Streets in an effort to promote peace in Southwest Philadelphia. The Hands For Peace Across Southwest event will take place from 8 to 11 a.m. and the sign-up will begin at 7:30 a.m. at NUAD office at 5214 Woodland Avenue. This is an opportunity to show your support for change, peace and quality of life in Southwest Philly.

Hands For Peace Across Southwest is an initiative by Paul (Earthquake) Moore, who has been a community activist in Southwest Philadelphia for more than 25 years. His passion has always been to create strategies to help save the community.

Lorraine Ballad Morrill from Power 99FM will cover the event. Everyone is invited to come out and be a part of this history making event.

Reminder: The 2nd Porch Hop hosted by community groups 48th Street Neighbors and Mel-Lo Town Watch is this Saturday (Aug 4), from 5 to 8 p.m. See the list of participating porches below.

FYI, one of the Porch Hop organizers, Patty Bulack,  invites neighbors to stop by her porch after 6 p.m. for a jam session.  A classical singer will perform (Patty will be playing piano to accompany her), and sax and guitar players will be on hand.  Patty’s son will be on the drums. They are planning to play recordings from a newly released CD of a neighbor around the corner.

For more information, please visit the event’s Facebook page.