#manderplayground

Mander Playground gave community members a helping hand with two Thanksgiving-related events.

Community Dinner

On November 16, Mander Playground held its 4th Annual Community Thanksgiving Event. Community partners provided more than 75 guests with a fully catered meal, live entertainment, and fun activities including face painting and a photo booth.

The event provides for those who may not have the means or the ability to cook a full holiday meal. Guests also learn about helpful programs that operate in the community and at the playground throughout the year.

The event is a joint partnership of the Mander Advisory Council, ENG Non-Profit Group, RAP (Rapping About Prevention), and Eatible Delights.

The festivities were enjoyed by guests from the Mander After School Program, Mander Youth Flag Football, Girls Empowerment Group, Narcotics Recovery Group, Strawberry Mansion NAC, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Woodford Mansion, and local residents.

St. Joseph’s Prep donates food baskets

St. Joseph’s Preparatory School (The Prep) generously donated 25 meals to Mander Playground to assist families in need. Baskets included a turkey and trimmings to create a complete holiday meal. The meals were distributed to Mander’s After School Program youth and community residents.

The Prep has partnered with nonprofits including The Food Pantry and East Park Revitalization Alliance to donate baskets to Mander for more than five years.  

Thank you to all who helped make both of these events possible!

Every year children from Mander Playground decorate a tree at nearby Woodford Mansion.

This year’s project involved creating "LOVE" and pretzel ornaments to celebrate Woodford's decorating theme of "City of Brotherly Love."

Woodford and five other historic houses in East and West Fairmount Park are decorated for the holidays and open to visitors through the end of the year. For more information, visit www.parkcharms.com.

Young artists at work.

Decorating day in Woodford’s entry hall.

The completed tree. Congratulations to the children at Mander Rec on a LOVE-ly job!

Mander Playground’s Mini Book Club is a small group that’s making a big impact. The program, kick-started by Recreation Leader 2 LeShadae Godfrey, is a spin-off of an adult book club planned for the center.

The club meets Tuesdays and Thursdays. It serves Mander’s after-school participants, ages 5 to 8, who enjoy reading. At club meetings, each student attending has the opportunity to select a book and read out loud to the group. After reading each page, they discuss what they've read. This develops a continued love for reading as well as enhanced cognitive developmental skills. It also builds a sense of confidence in youth who may have experienced challenges or disinterest with reading in their Pre-K and Kindergarten classes.

It was a busy holiday season at Mander Playground! For Thanksgiving, Saint Joe’s Prep donated food baskets to the playground. The site hosted a Community Thanksgiving Dinner in late November.