CityLights Gathers Clothing for City Friends
Aware of the recent resurgence of bitter cold weather and half a foot of snow in the city, a team of CityLights members from Wayne Presbyterian Church went out and collected clothing from its congregation and other clothing resources along the main line.
An astounding total of 196 large plastic bags of winter garb arrived at the church on Lancaster Avenue in Wayne on Thursday afternoon, February 4th and were caringly loaded into cars for the journey to Southwest.
The caravan arrived at The Common Place at 57th Street and Chester Avenue where it was welcomed by Rev. Christopher Holland, executive director of TCP and TCP Development Manager Gene Burke. Also lending a hand was Rev. Cean James, pastor of the Salt and Light church which is based at TCP. Helping with unloading the heavy bags of clothing were Craig and Rose Stock of the Wayne church.
Among the major donors to the clothing effort were the residents of White Horse Village, a senior center in Newtown Square. “We always have a Fall Fair in October where we gather clothing,” noted Frances Nannos who is also a Wayne church member. “Because of the pandemic we couldn’t hold the fair. This is a wonderful way to make the winter items available to our friends in Southwest.”
Pastor James is also the Executive Director of CityLights, the urban-suburban, faith-based partnership which has worked with organizations and individuals to improve quality of life in Southwest for the past 26 years. Wayne Presbyterian is the founder and mainline partner of the CityLights ministry.
The Common Place was founded by Wayne Presbyterian 8 years ago as a community resource for Southwest. It is home to Rev. James’ Salt and Light Congregation and also houses classes for nearby Cornerstone Christian Academy, plus out-of-school hour enrichment activities for neighborhood children and families.
The Common Place can be contacted through its website at: http://www.thecommonplacephilly.org
