On Saturday, April 29th, the Philadelphia
chapter of Stand Up For Kids officially launched in “the city of brotherly
love,” via the Turn Purple Campaign. A group of new
volunteers, decked out in purple, hit the streets to raise
awareness about the organization.
Planning for the event took about 6 weeks. Working with
the local community, the chapter was able to secure donated
meeting space to prep for the day and have lunch, face paint
for volunteers, and brochure printing for the kick-off event.
On the day of the event, volunteers spread out in 6 locations
across the city to hand out brochures and talk about SUFK,
encouraging donations and volunteerism. They found it pretty
easy to attract attention from passers-by.
“Once you said ‘kids’ and ‘homeless’ most
of the people stopped,” commented Tom (volunteer). “It
was a nice sunny day, plus purple really is my color! I felt
it was a very worthwhile way to spend my Saturday.”
“The Turn Purple Campaign was a great opportunity
for us to speak with Philadelphians about child abuse and
the resulting problem of youth homelessness,” commented
Agata Clevenger, executive director of the Philly chapter. “I
was amazed by how receptive people were. Some people admitted
they were abused as children, and Stand Up For Kid's modus
operandi really resonated with them.”
“We found the most unlikely folks to be the best listeners,” continued
Agata. “A big biker whose wife used to be a homeless
kid, mural artists working on South Street, a photographer
and escapee from Iraq, just to name a few. People were really
happy to hear that we are bringing a chapter of Stand Up
For Kids to Philadelphia, and many expressed genuine interest
in joining as volunteers.”
The Philadelphia chapter is relatively new. The first wave
of street counselors have just been trained, with more waiting
in the wings. Our Turn Purple event will certainly help to
interest more people in the cause.
“I’m so excited that a new chapter is developing
in Philadelphia,” says Kim (volunteer). “I
moved into the city from the suburbs two years ago, and didn’t
realize how many kids are homeless. It breaks my heart
to see a child who is hungry and without shelter. Before,
I had no idea how to help them. Now I have a wonderful
resource to talk to them about and place to send them.”
Jason Morgan continues “The diversity of those who
are in the organization and those who were touched by the
Turn Purple campaign on the street was especially exciting
to see because everyone's own experience brings something
different and valuable to this important cause.”
The Philly chapter is also working to get more publicity
for the organization. “Philadelphia is a big city,
but a pretty caring city,” says Jan (volunteer, event
organizer). “I constantly read articles in the local
papers about groups working to make this a better region
through education, the arts, and other vehicles. Once we
get the word out about SUFK, I expect the response to not
only be positive but [hopefully] overwhelming!”
Special thanks to: Digtial Color Graphics (Southampton,
PA) for donating the printing of our brochures; T’Essence
PR & Professional Services for donating purple body
paint; and Bijou Lounge (Philadelphia, PA) for donating meeting
space for our event.
