Looking forward to this Thanksgiving holiday – a time of particular need and loneliness for so many people, particularly during this pandemic – the HPCC is organizing a targeted food drive for those served by Vintage Senior Center to help them enjoy a traditional holiday dinner.

We are asking for complete sets of Thanksgiving trimmings or Giant Eagle gift cards we can use to purchase trimmings. Donations of $25 would pay for trimmings for a household, but donations of any size would be appreciated! If you would like to donate online, please visit the HPCC PayPal page, where you can make a donation and include a note that you’re donating for the Thanksgiving food drive.  

Vintage Senior Center Thanksgiving Trimmings Shopping List 

(see link for printable list)

2 cans of veggies 

1 can cranberry sauce

1 can sweet potatoes

1 box stuffing mix

1 box instant potatoes, au gratin potatoes, or corn bread mix

1 jar gravy

Either: (A) two 21-oz jars of canned fruit pie filling, OR (B) one 15 oz can pumpkin pie mix and one 12-oz can evaporated milk

Boxed pie crust mix: 2 boxes for fruit fillings OR 1 box for pumpkin pie fillings

Donations must be dropped off on the porch at 1315 N. Sheridan Ave. by 5 pm, Thursday, November 12.  If possible, please put all items for a set of trimmings into a double-bagged brown paper grocery bag with handles. 

Thank you in advance for your generosity! Since the onset of Covid-19, neighbors have generously been providing donations of nonperishables and toiletries for those served by Vintage: the first week of November we brought over a dozen bags! Our neighborhood is now one of their biggest donors of food, and due in part to our support, they are expanding their food program. Previously they added donations to the package of frozen meals provided to each senior weekly. Now they are giving their clients the opportunity to go “shopping” at their food pantry so that they can choose the extra food and personal items that they want and need. You’re making a difference, neighbors! Any food or donations collected in excess of what’s needed for Thanksgiving trimmings sets will be donated to Vintage for use in its new food pantry.

The Super Playground is the large wooden playground on Reservoir Drive. As many of you are aware, the playground was built by the community in 1991 and was designed to last 20 years. We’ve been able to extend its life a bit but it is now in need of a full replacement. The new playground will utilize the current playground’s footprint and will be designed and built with the same emphasis on creating a unique, creative playspace. 
To gather public input on playground design so far, the City and the project designer (Merritt Chase) created a website where people could submit ideas (https://engage.pittsburghpa.gov/highland-park-super-playground); had an online survey; circulated design worksheets; and had a workshop at the October HPCC Community Zoom Meeting. Online feedback and worksheets can be submitted until Nov 19.  Dec 3rd, they are hosting another Zoom meeting to unveil the preliminary plans and seek more public feedback. This is likely the last chance for the public to provide open-ended feedback on the design so we hope you – and your little ones – can join and share your thoughts!  
Zoom meeting info:

• Thur Dec 3, 5 – 6:30 pm
• Sign up at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkduGoqzoiG9bKQt9XddYWzpuzJT1EGO1r 

For more information about the project, visit https://engage.pittsburghpa.gov/highland-park-super-playground

Hello Neighbors,

We want to alert the community that someone has been making harassing phone calls to people in the neighborhood, pretending to be with the HPCC or the Mayor’s Office. We want to assure everyone that this is the work of a prankster. The calls may look like they are coming from a phone number you recognize. This practice is called “spoofing.” Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Spoofing is a federal crime. This activity has been reported to the local police and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for investigation. If you believe that you have been called by this person, please email the HPCC at HPCCPgh@gmail.com. You can also file a complaint with the Pittsburgh Police Department by calling 9-1-1.

As a reminder, do not provide any sort of personal information (e.g., email address, credit card number, social security number, voting information, etc.) to individuals that you don’t know over the phone. If the caller claims to be from a legitimate company or organization, hang up and call them back using a valid number found on their website or on your latest bill if you do business with them. For additional tips on protecting yourself from spoofing,visit https://www.fcc.gov/spoofed-robocalls.  

Thank you and stay safe!

This past weekend the HPCC hosted two events to mark the “opening” of the new community greenspace on the corner of Bryant Street and N. Euclid Ave. This new parklet is the result of a unique agreement between the HPCC and the property owner, the Highland Park Community Development Corporation (HPCDC). On Saturday, approximately 30 volunteers came out for a Neighborhood Cleanup to beautify the space – amazing considering the cool, damp weather! 

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Over the course of 2.5 hours, we disassembled and removed the old picnic tables; built four new picnic tables; dug out and pruned enough plant material to fill three dozen leaf and lawn bags (weeds, saplings, shrubs, stumps); dug out many large chunks of broken cement foundation; and pulled out other miscellaneous trash and debris. This hard work really transformed this underutilized space into a lovely resource for the neighborhood.

Special thanks to LaScola’s for providing coffee and cider for our volunteers, and to Grounded Strategies for providing the tools. Grounded is a community non-profit that works to improve the social, economic, and environmental health of communities by helping residents reclaim vacant and underutilized land; you can learn more about them here: (link:  https://groundedpgh.org/)  And of course, thank you so much to all of the volunteers who showed-up and pitched-in!
Check out photos from the clean-up and before and after photos of the space.

On Sunday, the parklet was transformed into a Pumpkins Patch!  

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Upwards of 200 visitors came by and explored the parklet, chose pumpkins, enjoyed the decorations, and visited Shelob’s den (or was it Aragog’s?). The HPCC also distributed children’s Halloween craft packs and worksheets for drawing Super Playground redesign ideas. Pumpkins were free, but we did accept non-perishables for the Vintage Senior Center and donations for the HPCC. Pumpkins that remained at the end of the event were given to our Bryant Street (and adjacent) businesses. Check out Pumpkin Patch photos here.  Please note that everyone was great about wearing masks at both events; for the Pumpkin Patch photos, we allowed people to briefly remove their masks and share their beautiful smiles.

Special thanks to Bryant Street Market for co-sponsoring the event. And thank you to all the folks who generously gave to the Vintage Senior Center and the HPCC.  Contributions are the HPCC’s primary source of revenue to support endeavors such as the new parklet, and programming such as the Halloween craft packs. If you would like to join or provide a donation to the HPCC, you can use the links on our website. 

The HPCC October 2020 newsletter is now available!

IN THIS ISSUE: