Save the date for the following projects. You can find more details here. Most of these Rebuilding Days are closed to additional volunteers. Please contact Jen Wootten (302-234-2045 or jenw@rebuildingphilly.org) for more information.
The Schryer Family has set a challenge for the RTP community, and we need your help to make it happen! The Schryers will make a matching gift to Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, dollar for dollar, for every cash gift that an individual makes by May 31, 2013 up to $25,000. Find more details and follow our progress here. Help us meet the challenge!
Save the date for Run to Rebuild III: Saturday, May 18, 2013. This event is ideal for seasoned runners, newbies, families, and other groups. The trail is easy on the feet and easy to enjoy. You'll find details and registration information here.
ART SHOW TO BENEFIT RTP
Ed Bronstein, Philadelphia artist, will contribute half of the proceeds of his spring show at The Sporting Club in the Bellevue to RTP. The show runs through April 4, 2013. You can find details and samples of his work here.
GUNG HO BIKE RIDE MAY 5
The Gung Ho Dragon Boat Team plans to continue their support of Rebuilding Together Philadelphia with a fun new event this year - the "Ho-Ker Ride and Ho-Down" scheduled for Saturday May 5. Participants can ride a beautiful, rolling 8-mile route through the countryside beginning and ending at Country Creek Winery in Telford, PA. Download the registration form here.
JOIN RTP's DRAGON BOAT TEAM
RTP has participated in the Philadelphia International Dragon Boat Festival each fall since 2006. Our participation provides our volunteers and other supporters a chance to have some fun and introduce our organization to their friends and family and to the Greater Philadelphia community, and to fundraise for our cause. On festival day, we share space with several of our long-time house management teams that also happen to be our friendly rivals on the river. Learn more and join the team!
MLK DAY OF SERVICE - JANUARY 21, 2013
More than 80 volunteers gathered at the Norris Square Civic Association's building to give 22 rooms and hallways a fresh coat of paint.
Our December 2012 newsletter is hot off the presses. In it, you can read about many of our projects and accomplishments from 2011-2012, as well as our plans for 2013.
BUILDING A HEALTHY NEIGHBORHOOD MEMORIES
If you participated in our Building a Healthy Neighborhood project in Overbrook in June of 2012, you might spot yourself in this beautiful photo collection or this documentary-style video about the project. Both the book and the video are a great way to share our story with your friends and family, which can help build our network of supporters. Special thanks to Benjamin Kanes and John Welsh for their photography and video skills.
AWARDS
Our affiliate was recognized in November at the Rebuilding Together National Conference as the second place winner of the Booz Allen Hamilton Management Excellence Award.
We received a 2012 Great Nonprofits Top-Rated Award. You can read what our volunteers and other supporters are saying about us, or add your review of RTP to their website, www. greatnonprofits.org.
OCTOBER 25 HONEYWELL IN WILMINGTON, DE
The City of Wilmington invited RTP to expand our reach to the South . Volunteers from Honeywell pitched in at Brandywine Mills Park in downtown Wilmington to install a backboard at the basketball court, and work on landscaping projects including cleaning, pruning, weeding, and planting. They also built benches and tables for open areas. Delaware welcomed us with open arms. Participants included Honeywell employee Chris Carper, U.S. Senator Tom Carper and Delaware State Senator Harris McDowell. You can find photos from the project here.
More than 900 volunteers from all over the country (thank you Americorps members and fellow RT affiliates!) participated in a three-day project on June 14-16, 2012. It transformed a neighborhood — a single block in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia.
Rebuilding Together (RTP working with the National Office), was able to make a big investment in order to make a big impact because of the financial leadership of Lowe's and the JBJ Soul Foundation. Major sponsors included Wells Fargo, Citrin Cooperman, Choice Hotels, Pepsi Beverages Company, Independence Bless Cross, and Janssen Biotech. The Wynnefield Overbrook Revitalization Corp and Pepper Hamilton LLC also provided support locally.
The results:
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31 homeowners received critical home repairs and exterior work, including landscaping, which made this pretty block visually stunning.
The Overbrook Environmental Education Center is delighted with improvements to its space (indoors and out), which enhance existing programs and position it new initiatives in economic development and environmentally sustainable practices.
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A Community Resource Fair, held on June 16, provided the community with a wealth of information, ranging from financial literacy to legal services to living independently to educational opportunities as well as health and wellness.
Building a Healthy Neighborhood news coverage and photos:
GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!
GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 30 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, eBay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting your favorite cause.
To provide a chance for volunteers and other supporters to be together without working on essential home repairs, RTP enters two boats in Philadelphia's Dragon Boat Festival each year. We celebrate the prior year's success and launch the current year with our friendly competition – Gung Ho, Red Oar White and Becky's Beauties – dragon boat teams that not only share tents at the festival, but also provide volunteer support to homeowners in need throughout the year. In addition to being a fun social event, the Dragon Boat Festival has become our signature fund-raiser. Our participation in the 2008 Festival raised more than $10,000; enough to make repairs to three homes in the spring of 2009.
2010 Dragon Boat Festival
Thank you to the 2010 Rebuilding Together Philadelphia Dragon Boat team! It was an unpredictable season, right up to the rescheduled festival day, but your enthusiasm for dragon boat and RTP never waivered. We had a great day on the river on October 23, along with our friendly rival teams (Gung Ho!, Becky's Beauties and Red Oar White) and many fans. Check out the photos here.
We have been fortunate to be the recipient of several fundraisers conducted by RTP fans in order to generate greater resources for our mission to rebuild low-income communities. If you have a fund-raising idea, please contact Executive Director Carrie Rathmann at carrie@rebuildingphilly.org so that she can lend guidance on raising funds on RTP's behalf.
DUCK FOR COVER DODGE BALL TOURNAMENT
For the past several years, RTP has been the beneficiary of consulting support from a team of ten students of the Management 100 class of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Teams take on orchestrating a Duck for Cover Dodge Ball Tournament to raise awareness and funds for RTP. The freshmen learn how to interact with a “client” and build their negotiating, project management, and marketing skills. The 5th annual tournament, held in November 2008, raised more than$1,600 for RTP.
RTP was a recipient of Delaware Investments' second annual Charity Classic held in October 2006, which raised more than $120,000. Half of these funds were directed to RTP. The theme of the event “Your strong drive can make a difference” illustrated the tremendous impact the fund raiser had on low-income communities. RTP directed funds toward three special initiatives in 2006-2007. RTP added funds to our special projects allocation in order to help with homeowners' urgent needs throughout the year. Proceeds also helped pay for an independent contractor to focus on public relations, fund development, and outreach on behalf of RTP. Finally, RTP conducted a special Build Day project in April 2007 sponsored by Delaware Investments.
BIKING BRIGADE/PEDAL FOR THE PEOPLE
After 63 days and 3,385 miles on the road from coast to coast Steve, Justin, and Peter Seweryn arrived to a waiting crowd of family, friends, and beachgoers in July 2004. To honor the Biking Brigade, Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio and Tourism Commission Chairman David Farina presented the Seweryns with a Key to the City Award.
Following Lewis and Clark's route (only in reverse) and taking only what they could carry on their bikes, the cyclists averaged 13 miles per hour. They braved 16 states facing extremes in weather, navigating rivers and mountain passes, and sharing the path with grizzly bears, coyotes, and other animals. Despite these obstacles, the Seweryns said the trip was more than worth it. Father and sons bonded. They saw amazing sites and met very supportive people, including the inhabitants of a bar in Mineola, Iowa where they were treated as celebrities. The trip raised nearly $35,000 for RTP.
Justin Seweryn didn't get enough of cycling through tough terrain. Along with Jake Decker, John Ellis, Caleb Morris and Jeremie Schatz, he formed Pedal for the People. They embarked from San Diego in October 2005 intending to do a 10,000-mile bicycle tour through Central America to Tierra del Fuego. Although the tour officially ended in Peru in March 2006, it shaped their worldview and daily travels forever. As “missionaries” for community activism and sustainable travel through grassroots fund raising and promotion, the five friends also raised awareness and funds for three nonprofits, including Rebuilding Together Philadelphia. RTP received more than $8,000 from gifts made via Pedal for the People.
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