The Shelves Are Getting Bare

Requests For Assistance Are Way Up This Year. Can You Help Greater Park Hill Community Restock The Food Pantry With Some Basics?

Between January and April of this year, visits to the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.’s food pantry increased by nearly 300 percent compared to last year. The registered neighborhood organization’s food pantry shelves are bordering on bare and can use an influx of donations.

If you’re at the grocery store, consider donating a few items from the list below, or shop directly from GPHC’s Amazon food pantry needs list: tinyurl.com/GPHCpantry.

• Boxes of dry cereal

• Bags of white rice

• Ramen

• Cans of tomatoes and tomato paste

• Jarred pasta sauce

• Canned fruit (peaches, pineapple, mandarin oranges and mixed fruit)

• Canned tuna and salmon

• Canned corned beef hash

• Cans of hearty soups and stew

• Bottles of juice

• Granola bars and kid-friendly snacks

4th of July Theme Shaping Up: Are You Ready To Deal?

The cadre of organizers (OK, Justin Bresler) of the city’s largest and most extravagant 4th of July Parade is jigging around his desk with excitement over the way the event is shaping up so far. Reports from the home office indicate that an AMAZING lineup of marchers and floaters and riders have already signed up to participate this year. “Far better,” says Bresler, “than we’ve ever been at this point in the registration process in terms of both the number of entries and their variety and creativity.”

Here are the details: The 13th Annual Park Hill Parade takes place on Tuesday, July 4 beginning at 1:30 p.m. The route, as always, stretches along 23rd Avenue beginning at Dahlia and ends at Kearney Street. Registration is open and free for all groups — sign up at ParkHillParade.com. Then, get ready to march/skip/float/ride the route on July 4 while thousands of adoring fans cheer you along from the sidelines. The always-popular Westernaires are confirmed to return this year. A marching band is coming all the way from from Bemidji, Minn. to perform. Also witness the return of the Guerilla Fanfare brass band, Black Pearl Entertainment and the Platinum Diva Princesses cheer squad, a perennial crowd-pleaser. Another dance team — the Dancin’ Dreams — has signed

10th Annual Park Hill Yard Sale Is Happening June 3

There was some chatter about the com munity-wide Park Hill Yard Sale not hap pening this year, as the event’s longtime organizer’s plate is overflowing. However, as we were going to press Park Hillian Blair Taylor stepped up to offer to take on the organizing details this year.

And so … drumroll … the 10th Annual Park Hill Yard sale is happening, and set for Saturday, June 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Spring is the perfect time to purge all that has been collected over the long winter (OK, maybe several winters). If you want to hold a yard sale on June 3, shoot Blair an email at blair.taylor@8z.com or call 646584-1033. She’ll add you to the official map and send out additional info and updates.

You can also connect with the handy QR code below to get added to the map of yard sales.

In May shop pers can check out the map at greaterparkhill. org, and make a plan to head out June 3 and snag some smoking deals!

• Small can openers

• Eggs

• Bags and blocks of cheese

• Fresh vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes and asparagus)

• Frozen proteins (chicken, family packs of fish, ground beef and pork)

• Hygiene products/toiletries

The food pantry is at 2823 Fairfax St. Food and toiletry donations can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and between noon and 5 p.m. on Tuesdays. Donations are also accepted by appointment. If you’d like to schedule a donation outside of office hours, email director@ greaterparkhill.org, or call 303-388-0918. Out of respect for clients, please only donate items that have not expired, and please do not leave donations outside the office door.

If you are in need of supplies, call the number above to inquire about hours of food pantry operation and other details.

Morning Spin

Park Hill Peloton cyclists at Cherry Creek State Park at sunrise on April 18. The Park Hill Peloton is an informal group of cyclists that meets every Tuesday and Friday mornings at 5:40 a.m. in the spring and summer for a fast-paced 25-30 mile ride from Park Hill, down to Cherry Creek, and out and around the reservoir. The group includes a number of champion amateur bicycle racers who use the ride for pre-workday race training. At the height of summer, the race group, or “peloton,” can grow to as many as 60 cyclists riding in close drafting formation, reaching speeds exceeding 35 miles per hour. Photo by Reid