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Dear Neighbor:
As I write this, we are in a time that none of us has
ever
experienced or would have predicted even a few months ago. Most of us
are staying safely at home and socially distant when going outside-
giving our sidewalks a strange, deserted look. So it is more important than ever that our streets are clean and safe, with an abundance of public space for us to enjoy. CCRA makes a major contribution to this effort. We have a $30,000 contract with the Center City District to clean neighborhood sidewalks after weekly trash collection, which is not covered by membership dues. A
look at the city's Litter Index Map shows our neighborhood is among the
cleanest in the city. In addition to diligence from our terrific
residents, who take pride in keeping the neighborhood clean and green, the sidewalk cleaning is a big part of this. It's an expensive, but extraordinarily successful program
CCRA's Neighborhood Clean Safe and Green
Campaign supports many initiatives - tree planting, historic
preservation, the Schuylkill River Park Community Garden and oversight
of neighborhood development. Just recently, the developer of a major new
office building on Market Street negotiated a very favorable Community
Benefits Agreement with CCRA, which includes $14,000 to replace trees which will be lost.
CCRA is
also particularly active at this time on issues of neighborhood safety.
In response to two close-by murders over the winter, we convened two
community meetings, organized a neighborhood safety committee, and
established heightened liaison with the police and the many
organizations dealing with increased panhandling and homelessness.
Through these continuing efforts, the police have been particularly
responsive to moving unmasked panhandlers away from open food stores and
pharmacies and preventing large groups from re-establishing themselves
in or near Rittenhouse Square, which was the source of at least one
(as-yet unsolved) stabbing.
CCRA is
also attentive to the current need for more useable outdoor spaces and
has spearheaded an effort with other community organizations to lobby
the city to permit use of certain streets for pedestrians, joggers, and
bicyclists at a time when such space is not being used by cars, but
could be a welcome outlet for exercise.
These efforts are not free. Like many other non-profit organizations, we had to cancel
our spring fundraiser, the popular House and Garden Tour, which has
left a large hole in our budget. We also can't plan on repeating our
successful Casino Night in the fall. We know there are many unmet needs
right now and social and charitable organizations of every kind are
competing for scarce dollars in a scary and uncertain time. But we also
need to ask for your help. Support in any amount helps and is tax deductible. To make your online donation, click below or download the form below to mail it in.
Please,
help keep our neighborhood clean, beautiful, open and safe with a
donation to CCRA's Keeping our Neighborhood Clean, Safe and Green
Campaign.
Thank you for everything you do to make our neighborhood better!
Maggie Mund
President
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