QVNA Spotlight

Volunteer Announcements

Congratulations, Inez. Thank you, Jonathan and Tom.

By Lucy Erdelac

QVNA’s Board of Directors proudly announces the naming of Inez Green as emeritus director. In 2015, Inez joined the board as a director and was re-elected in 2017. In 2019, the board approved her appointment to the position of vice president. Read more about Inez’s volunteer accomplishments at http://bit.ly/InezGreen.

An emeritus director is an ex officio, non-voting director of the board who holds this title in acknowledgment of long-term dedication to the association. Emeritus directors are former members of the board who completed their full terms. Appointed by QVNA’s president, he or she must be approved by the board of directors.

In 2003, QVNA instituted the emeritus director role. In addition to Inez, emeritus directors include:

Kathy Conway (Since 2003)

Michael Hauptman (Since 2017).

Bainbridge Green’s Truest Friend

Thank you, Friends of Bainbridge Green Chair Jonathan Rubin for your dedicated service to our community. In 2013, Jonathan co-founded and was named chair of the Friends group, which envisioned a revitalized midway between 3rd and 5th on Bainbridge Street. In 2014, he was elected to a two-year term on QVNA’s Board of Directors. A tireless advocate for transforming Bainbridge Green into a landscaped destination park, Jonathan volunteered countless hours, raised thousands of dollars, and led dozens of improvement projects to make Bainbridge Green a better place for everyone to enjoy.

A Queen Village resident for 18 years, Jonathan recently stepped away from his volunteer role as he and his wife, Asya, plan their family’s next life chapter outside of the city.

A Volunteer of Many Hats

Since 2019, when he joined QVNA’s board as treasurer, Tom Bonney has epitomized the spirit of community service, volunteering his time and making a positive impact in Queen Village. Tom led planning for the budget that will fund QVNA’s 2021 strategic plan and vision, which will result in new technologies for association management.

While volunteering his CPA talent on the financials and his elbow grease for community cleanups, Tom also took the reins as QVNA’s representative to the Friends of the South Street Police Mini Station.

Recently Tom stepped away from his role on the board but will continue to represent QVNA with the mini station’s Friends Group and support other QVNA initiatives. Thanks, Tom, for everything you do to support our community. ■

Living Our Mission

QVNA announces recipients of this year’s community grants.

By Lucy Erdelac

Escape from the Poppy Field (1991), by Charles Santore Jr.

The QVNA Board of Directors has awarded grants totaling $10,000 for five worthy projects. The QVNA Community Grants Program provides funding for projects and programs that help improve neighborhood quality of life. Congratulations to our five recipients:

Friends of the Charles Santore Li-

brary was awarded $2,000 to improve the library’s patio area for residents seeking a welcoming, open-air space. The project recognizes that all neighbors should have the opportunity to enjoy socially distanced companionship in a relaxed patio atmosphere.

QVNA grant funds will be used to replace the picnic table’s platform boards and to purchase and install a new bench and trash can. In addition, the patio’s stucco wall will be repaired, cleaned, and painted. Repairs and refurbishment, however, are merely prologue to the heart of this project: the installation of a freshly reprinted fabric mural entitled Escape from the Poppy Field, by world-class illustrator Charles Santore Jr., son of the library’s namesake.

Featured in the 1991 edition of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man and Scarecrow carry Dorothy Gale through the poppy field. A wall-size fabric mural of this illustration is the patio centerpiece at the Charles Santore Library at 932 S. 7th Street.

Nebinger Parent Teacher Associa-

tion (PTA) was awarded $1,200 to help fund the purchase of 17 subscriptions for Virtual Reading Instruction to help support teachers with instruction in reading comprehension—a core curriculum element. Used in combination with the school’s pre-existing Virtual Writing Instruction, these subscriptions will enable teachers to mirror for students the instructional program that they would receive in person.

Southwark/Queen Village Commu-

nity Garden was awarded $1,200 to fund a new orchard. During the past few years, SQVCG gardeners have had to remove aging trees from its orchard. In the meantime, they began researching the best path forward to replace and replant the orchard’s trees and berries.

The garden will be adding Asian persimmon and Japanese plum trees, along with a second variety of figs, to the existing stand of paw paw and fig trees.

St. Mary’s will be introducing a yoga and meditation program to promote physical and emotional awareness.

Donning holiday hats, Santa’s helpers brightened the lives of more than 100 children at Wanda Johnson’s Christmas Event. In 2020, the event was held outside to maintain social distancing.

SQVCG partnered with the Philadelphia Orchard Project and is now in the process of selecting suitable, productive plant stock that is proven to thrive in an urban environment. No labor costs are required for this project because garden volunteers will manage the process and planting of the new orchard.

St. Mary’s Interparochial School

was awarded $1,850 to fund a yoga and meditation program to introduce the wellness concepts of movement and mindful breathing to students. More than one-third of the school’s students are residents of Queen Village.

This program is designed to help students develop self-awareness and learn effective intra- and interpersonal communication skills. The program’s goals are to help students, faculty, and staff develop the tools for increasing physical and emotional awareness in order to help alleviate stress.

Wanda Johnson’s Christmas Event

was awarded $500 to help purchase Christmas gifts for the children of less fortunate Queen Village families who reside at The Courtyard Apartments at Riverview. 2020 was the second year that this volunteer-driven event was planned and carried out by more than a dozen volunteers under the leadership of Wanda Johnson. Over a series of weeks, Wanda and her team worked to collect the names and ages of children within the Courtyard complex who otherwise might have gone without a holiday gift.

On Christmas Eve more than 100 children received gifts chosen especially for them. Fox 29 TV featured the fun. See it at http://bit.ly/grant4event.

Before making funding recommendations to the Board of Directors, the QVNA Community Grants Program Committee reviewed all applications using the program’s published criteria. Thank you, Grants Committee Chair Kathy Dilonardo and committee members Matthew Atkins, Sarah Davis, and Mike McPhilmy for your volunteer service. ■

About Community Grants

The QVNA Community Grants Program is one of the many ways that the association lives our mission of providing community services, advocacy, and service to help improve quality of life in Queen Village.

Applications for grants can be submitted for a wide range of projects and programs, such as enhancing parks, clean-and-green projects, and historic preservation. QVNA also accepts applications for academic and/or learning enrichment programs during the school year and the summer. Read more at QVNA. org/about-community-grants.