On March 7th, the HPCC hosted its 80th anniversary kick-off celebration, “Cheers to 80 Years!” Almost 100 community members and other HPCC supporters attended this sold-out, wine tasting fundraiser.
Held at the penthouse community room of the Highland House Tower, guests enjoyed wines curated by HPCC board member Jack Brice, and an assortment of fabulous appetizers and desserts from Jen Saffron’s Sprezzatura Community Cafe and Catering. Centerpieces were provided by Highland Park’s own Karen Toole (&flowers). Attendees included Mayor Ed Gainey, Councilwoman Deb Gross, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy President and CEO Catherine Qureshi, and Rivers of Steel Executive Director Mary Mirrin, as well as Lou and Kelley Iezzi. A special thank you goes out to the event’s planning committee – Jack Brice, Amanda Copeland, Howard Degenholtz, Beth Hutton, Elisa Lucke, and Randy Walsh – and to the event volunteers, which included the rest of our board, Sonia Degenholtz, and Kate Freed.
In addition to enjoying the food, friends, and libations, guests learned of the HPCC’s new fundraising campaign, “80 for 80.” Our goal of raising $80,000 to cover our increased programming and some one-time costs, and we are over 10% of the way there already! The HPCC is 100% volunteer run, and almost entirely funded by membership, which covers some but not all of our expenses. As many of you know, we’ve expanded what we do for the community in the past seven years, including:
- More free community events, like the neighborhood picnic, “the Highland Park Hullabaloo”
- The SOS – Senior Online Services – program, which provides tech support to neighborhood seniors in their homes
- Additional children’s activities, such as our Earth Day and Back-to-School events
- Maintaining the Bryant Street Parklet
These events and programs all cost – but don’t earn – money. Additionally, the fundraiser will help us cover some one-time costs:
- We’re purchasing the Bryant Street Parklet – an exciting step that will enable us to maintain it for the community in perpetuity – but the purchase and some basic improvements (like adding power and water) will tap our reserves.
- We want to replace our now tattered Bryant Street banners and consider other options for beautifying the business district.
If you appreciate all that the HPCC does to make Highland Park such a wonderful place to live, we ask you to please consider a generous donation so that we can continue to provide all of these activities and services in future years. To give, please visit our website and click “donate,” or mail a check to HPCC (PO Box 5036, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206).
