From our friends at Clean Water Action.  If you're interesting in helping lobby on June 18th, free transportation to Harrisburg is being provided from Center City and King of Prussia.

Are you tired of trash?  Does littering make you loony?  Join like-minded folks for an evening of 'trash talk' at East Passyunk Crossing's offices (1729 S. 11th St, on the Neumann-Goretti High School campus) starting at 6:30pm on Thursday, June 6th, 2013.  Several South Philly civic groups will be represented, but anyone of any age from any part of the city is welcome to share their ideas!

From 6:30 - 7:00 pm, we will be checking in on the status of our first collaborative effort, which took place over last spring/summer, to reach out to take-out businesses regarding trash can compliance.  If you weren't involved in this first effort, you can feel free to skip this part of the meeting.

From 7:00 - 7:45 pm, we will decide whether or not we would like to undertake another collaborative effort and brainstorm what that might be. So start letting those new ideas simmer and bring them with you!

We look forward to seeing folks there!  If you can't make it, please send your ideas in to the Cleaning Committee!

Join your neighbors this Saturday, May 18th to help clean AND green our neighborhood! 

Interested in GREENING? Meet at Broad and Federal Streets to work on pruning and trimming of trees in the northern section of our neighborhood.

Interested in CLEANING? Meet us at 15th and Dickinson Streets to help with a targeted cleaning of vacant lots and other problem areas along Dickinson and Moore Streets.

Both events will run from 10 AM to Noon and all supplies will be provided.  See you on Saturday!

From our friends at Lower Moyamensing Civic Association (LoMo):

South Philadelphia High School (SPHS), situated in the center of a concrete jungle with a district-wide budget crisis looming, is searching for greener pastures. Like many public schools, its students and teachers have little to no opportunities for hands-on learning outside of the classroom. Nearby residents have limited access to fresh produce and crave open space. But the school will soon be at the center of a neighborhood transformation as it launches plans to renovate its campus, making it a model of sustainability.

On April 9th the school will launch a sixty-day ‘Greening’ Master Plan fundraising campaign through Projexity, an international neighborhood improvement crowdfunding platform.  SPHS and the Lower Moyamensing Civic Association will work closely with community representatives and the Philadelphia-based design and engineering firm Roofmeadow to develop a shared vision for the campus, which currently exists as one of the neighborhood’s largest underutilized properties.  When completed, the project will feature a combination of ground level rain gardens, street trees, expanded vegetable gardens, and a rooftop farm that will improve air quality for the surrounding community and serve as a unique educational platform.  A salaried Garden Coordinator will maintain the improvements and lead hands-on lessons for students and community members.

“South Philly High is on the cutting edge of sustainability and innovation – it is changing the way we think about what a school should be and using technology to drive change in a totally new way,” says Kim Massare, President of the Lower Moyamensing Civic Association. The association began its collaboration in with SPHS in 2009 and has been instrumental in the greening of the school’s campus.

To manage the project from end-to-end and to help raise funds and other support from the community and beyond, the school is working with Projexity, a new online tool that enables anyone to initiate, plan, gather support and execute neighborhood improvement projects.  Projexity is the brainchild of a group of University of Pennsylvania alumni, who are excited to be a part of this project back in the City of Brotherly Love.

The fundraising campaign will run from April 9 – June 8.  If you'd like to help, you can find more information and make a tax-deductible donation.

Clean & Green Meeting – Monday May 6^th @ Disilvestro Rec. Center

Please join the Clean & Green Committee next Monday at 6:30 PM at Disilvestro Rec. Center (15^th and Morris). We will be discussing the upcoming neighborhood clean up and tree pruning event on May 18^th and we welcome your input on where to focus these efforts. Also, we will be joined by Mary Donahue, a program organizer with Clean Water Action who is interested in creating a working relationship with our group on issues like greening of abandoned lots, sustainability, and stormwater management. See you there! 

Stay tuned for details on the May 18^th Neighborhood Clean Up and Tree Pruning events.



SBSNA and NNA Special Joint Zoning Meeting

2301 South Broad Street (at Ritner)
Morgan Conference Room - Basement Level
Thursday, May 9th - 6:00 PM (please arrive 15-20 minutes early to check in with security)

Properties to be discussed - 1700 South Broad Street

There is a preliminary proposal (concept design) to re-build the existing Library and Health Center to become a new building for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a new state-of-the-art library, a new health center, a new recreation center, and a new playground for children.

This proposed is a concept design that will be presented to the neighborhood community.  To move forward with this project, the property will need to be re-zoned by legislation through city council. 

This meeting is intended to explain the concept only.  Further details and additional meetings will be forthcoming dependent upon the rezoning of the lot.