Recently, a few Pop! volunteers joined forces with Tristan Fuentes, a Co-Urban Garden Manager at Norris Square Neighborhood Project, in assisting with some weeding work in one of their local gardens. The experience was both humbling and eye-opening for our staff, "Volunteering at Norris Square was such a rewarding experience! I'm a newer employee at Pop!, and it was a great way to both give back to my community while also bonding with my new coworkers." 

The volunteers spent the afternoon learning about how the garden projects impact the community while they weeded and made way for new growth. "It was great to have the group from Pop! Promos come to our gardens here at Norris Square Neighborhood Project. With the help of the group, we were able to weed out and clean up our Raíces garden to prep it for a new river rock path. This garden will soon serve as a permanent farm stand location and continue to preserve these Puerto Rican green spaces in the neighborhood," Tristan said of our visit.

Once the hard work was finished, the team was lucky enough to receive a tour of other local gardens from Tristan, to see what their progress would soon turn into. We are so thankful for the opportunity to learn about the culture, thoughtfulness, and community that goes into each garden project.

For our readers that are located in the Philadelphia area, check out some of the opportunities that Norris Square Neighborhood Project has to offer. Every Saturday from 10am-1pm at 2217 N 2nd St they host a farm stand that happens right outside of the same garden the team worked on. You can also sign up to volunteer on one of their volunteer days - every 4th Saturday of each month from 10am-2pm, at their local Las Parcelas garden! For more information, check out their website here: https://myneighborhoodproject.org/

Pop! took notice of the recent struggles in Philadelphia’s inner city schools and their need for support and supplies. Together, the team at Pop! raised $1,200 in donations for local teachers in the Philadelphia area. 

"With the amount of donations we received from our generous team members here at Pop!, we were able to knock out four teachers' Amazon wish lists [valued at $300 each], and bring a large box of supplies to a nearby elementary school. It's encouraging to know these will be put to good use as teachers and students are in need now more than ever!" said drive organizer Katie Kring.

Donations in physical supplies like notebooks, folders, pencils, erasers, markers, and more were collected among the staff and brought to a local school, Horatio B Hackett Elementary. The staff was ecstatic to receive the supplies and sent us a thank you for our efforts to help out!