Summer vacation felt alive and well last Saturday afternoon on the 1600 block of Susquehanna Avenue. School may have started a week ago for most of the children in the neighborhood, but the smell of hot dogs on the grill and the sound of people congregating in the closed-off street said otherwise. Members of the year-old community group Brothers and Sisters United were thankful for the sunny, clear sky and a successful turnout for their first big event—a school supply and clothing drive.
Brothers and Sisters United is made up of men and women who have lived on or around Susquehanna Avenue and have seen the drastic changes it has encountered. Through referral services, rental assistance programs, safe-sex education and activities for children they hope to change the current state, and eventually the future, of the neighborhood.
At 9 a.m. the seven members of Brothers and Sisters United were joined by block captain Nellie Green and other men and women in the neighborhood to block off and clean the street, set up tables and chairs and blow up a swimming pool for the kids.
“Everyone here is an organizer, that’s what I say we’re all called,” said Cassandra Marshall as she unpacked pencil cases and packs of paper onto a table.
Salaam D. Wakefield added that each of these organizers and community members knows each other and recognizes the importance of supporting the children.
“We were reminiscing about seeing the children walk up and down the street doing some dumb, petty stuff and we decided that sometimes they need a big brother or a big sister who understands,” he said. “We want to sit them down and explain things in a way they’ll understand because they’re all ours, they’re our responsibility.”
John Baxley and Michael Hargrove are also members of Brothers and Sisters United. Baxley’s daughter and Hargrove’s son received paper, pencils, notebooks, backpacks and folders at the school supply drive earlier that day. As fathers in the community, they know they’re responsibility in Brothers and Sisters United is even more pressing.
“Even though I have a child out there myself it’s even better giving to the other kids,” added Baxley. “There are things my daughter has that they might not have. We brought all this stuff here today so they know someone out there cares about them.”
The residents of this small block in North Central Philadelphia were appreciative of the group for their continued efforts. The $800 that Brothers and Sisters United raised at a Cabaret Night they hosted last month all went to the block party and school supply drive.
“The stuff we give is out of our pocket,” said Baxley. “Anything we raise goes right back into the neighborhood.”
The hope for each event and the word-of-mouth publicity Brothers and Sisters plans to receive is that other neighborhoods in the area will catch on to what they are doing, see what changes actually can be made with group effort and overall just try to do better for their children’s futures.
With new backpacks on their shoulders and pencils in their hands these kids will be ready for whatever the school year throws their way.
I am so excited about this article. On the behalf of Brothers and Sisters United, I would like to thank all of the community organizations that came out to support our event. They are Urban Community Resource Center( for providing information on housing,employment and programs for ex-offendors), The Treehouse(For children activities and facepainting), Vanalt Electrical Construction (for providing donations, clothing, information of the National Electrical Apprenticeship program and all the printing needs for the event), The Lou Williams Foundation for (providing pizza and bookbags filled with supplies), BEBASHI( for providing material for safe sex and free mammagrams), For TEX III Lounge (For providing hot dogs and sodas for the Children), The Double L (for providing water), To Joey McQueen( for providing the moonbounce), Citywide Ministries(from chester for providing bookbags with supplies),The Almuni Group(for assisting with obtaining supplies,Big Boyz incorporated(for providing the music) and to TEX IV( for providing all the cleanup and setup assistance). Also thanks to all my Brothers and Sisters within the organization for all of your hard work and dedication.
This was a rewarding and fullfilling experience. We wouldn’t been able to accomplish this without the support of the community. I humbley thank everyone for there help and support. May god bless you all. If anyone is interested in becoming members of Brothers and Sisters United please email me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Cassandra Z. Marshall
It was brought to my attention that I mispelled one organization’s name. Instead of Citywide Ministries, please replace with Cityteam Ministries.