West Philly Tool Library space at 1314 S 47th Street. (Photo courtesy of WPTL)

Here’s some awesome news for the West Philly Tool Library: after a series of publications in local media, including West Philly Local, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and PlanPhilly, and great community support, their online fundraising campaign not only reached its goal of $10,000 but exceeded it by $900.

The crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo.com was seeking donations to help fund the tool library’s expansion and community outreach projects and allow them to purchase new, most needed tools.

Some 172 different funders donated to the campaign, according to Peter Foreman-Murray, the tool library’s executive director. “It’s really amazing to see all the support from the community,” Foreman-Murray wrote in an email.

Now, what’s the next step for the tool library after the successful fundraiser?

“We’re really excited to put the funds into use at the tool library,” writes Foreman-Murray. “We’ve already started to compile a list of tools to buy. We can never keep our most popular tools in stock; as our membership has grown, our available tools haven’t kept up. These funds will help us to ensure that things like table saws and weed whackers are on the shelves when people need them.”

The tool library also began the planning of their expanded education offerings, according to Foreman-Murray. “We’re really looking forward to providing community members with the knowledge they need to use our tools to improve their lives,” he wrote.

Visit the West Philly Tool Library website for more news, updates and information on how to become a member.

Phil Thomas (right) and The ‘G’ Word crew with their prize. (Photos courtesy of Phil Thomas)

The Sloppy Film Fest (Facebook page), a neighborhood festival of short DIY films, took place at the Beaumont Warehouse on Saturday and we hear it was a great success. Today, we present a film that won the Audience Prize for best film. The film is called The ‘G’ Word (“G” for “Gentrification”) and is mostly set in West Philly (Clark Park and Baltimore Avenue).

Phil Thomas wrote and directed the film (thanks, Phil, for sending us the info). The cast and crew are all West Philly folks: Phil, Andy Holman, John H Dukes, and Heidi M. Smithee. Phil hopes that you’ll enjoy the film and says that his crew will be shooting more movies in West Philly.

Here it is:

Homestead Exemption Map created by Aaron Kreider. Source: http://www.campusactivism.org/

Have you applied for the Homestead Exemption yet? Just a reminder that this exemption can save homeowners up to $400 on their annual taxes and the deadline for application is on Saturday, Sept 13.

Aaron Kreider, the West Philly based activist and programmer who built JusticeMap.org, has recently created a Homestead Exemption Map. The map is an estimate of qualified properties in the city that haven’t applied for the homestead exemption. The map is based on Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment data from April 2014.

“A while ago I read a NewsWorks story that an estimated 30% of homeowners haven’t applied for the homestead exemption,” Kreider wrote in an email. “So I decided to do a small project to encourage people to apply.”

Kreider, who is working with the West Philly Socialists (the West Philly branch of the Philly Socialists) who are committed to economic equality, points out that you can see on the map how low-income areas have a lower application rate (red shows eligible households who haven’t applied for the exemption; green indicates households who applied and received full homestead exemption).

Check out the map and more information at: http://www.campusactivism.org/blog/node/423

To apply for the homestead exemption online, visit this page. You call also apply over the phone: 215-686-9200.

So, the summer is officially over for kids who attend public schools in the city as the new school year begins on Monday, Sept. 8. As we reported a few days ago, starting this Fall all School District of Philadelphia (SDP) students are eligible for free meals. As the menu is the same for all SDP schools and it’s often difficult to find it (you have to search for it on the SDP website) we will be publishing this information.

So here’s the full-service menu (breakfast and lunch) for the first week, Sept. 8 – 12, 2014. Come back every Sunday evening for the coming week’s menu. If your school is a Satellite menu school, click here. Continue Reading

A friendly, brown dog (pictured) was found today at around 4:30-5 p.m. roaming around St. Bernard, Warrington, Florence and 51st. The dog was taken to ACCT at 111 W. Hunting Park Ave.

If this is your dog or if you have any information about the dog’s owner please contact ACCT at 267-385-3800.

Pieter Mostert’s Vessel.

University City Arts League, a community non-profit organization that has been serving the community for 45 years, is presenting a two-person ceramics show, “West Philly Ceramics: Ken Beidler and Pieter Mostert.” The opening reception is tonight, 6-8 p.m., at 4226 Spruce Street.

Beidler’s forms combine wheel and hand-built elements. He is a largely self-taught artist, according to the UCAL press release, who has been influenced by the original Arts and Crafts movement, urban life and his life experience in Indonesia. He has a studio at the Cedar Works and teaches at UCAL. Mostert is South African who spen the last five years in Philadelphia. He makes sculptural vessels using a combination of coiling, pinching and paddling.

The works by Beidler and Mostert will be on display at the UCAL gallery until September 26. For more information about classes offered at UCAL, visit: www.ucartsleague.org/classes.

(Photos courtesy of UCAL)

Ken Beidler’s Baskets.