2020 Letter from the President
Happy New Year, VU Crew!
As we close out 2020, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect back on the year with our VU-PHL family. From my perspective, the following meme best sums up this VERY memorable year:
The entire country and the city of Philadelphia faced fire after fire this year, from the pandemic, and citywide shutdowns to the murder of George Floyd and subsequent social justice movement. 2020 culminated with Philly in the national spotlight amid the presidential election. We all remember the infamous tweet from our disgruntled President in the fall: “Bad things happen in Philadelphia.” I couldn’t disagree with him more.
Sure, Philadelphia faced its fair share of challenges this year. However, Philadelphians faced these obstacles with the true grit, courage and love that our city is known for. We stepped up to help those in our community suffering as a result of COVID-19. We stood up in support of our Black neighbors in the fight for racial equality. We became a beacon of democracy during the election. I’m proud to say that our VU-PHL family showed this same spirit of resilience in 2020 too.
As an organization founded on the principle of engaging with and serving the Philadelphia community primarily through in-person events, VU-PHL certainly faced some big questions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It forced us to rethink how we’re best able to serve our partners and engage with our volunteers in a virtual world. While we made some mistakes and learned some lessons along the way, I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish this year:
We held our first national VU virtual event with our sister chapters in Chicago and Baltimore. We even helped grow the VU family with the addition of the Austin chapter, founded by former VU-PHL board member, Annora!
We continued to hold Second Saturday events with many of our partners. Highlights include:
Cooked over 200 meals for the Bethesda Project residents through our virtual cooking class with Chef Eli Milligan
Made dozens of cards for our healthcare heroes at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Collected over 35 bags of trash during our virtual cleanup as part of the #PhilaBag initiatives with the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge
Made over 700 voter registration calls to Philly residents with SEAMAAC and YIP
Called over 1000 people with Philly Counts 2020 to encourage residents to participate in the census
Created dozens of holiday cards for the children receiving gifts from Turning Points for Children
Baked 288 pieces for MANNA’s Pie in the Sky Fundraiser.
We continued to find innovative ways for our volunteers to meet and hangout virtually, hosting virtual Bingo and Trivia nights, a yoga class and a holiday baking contest!
Importantly, our board doubled down on our commitment to becoming a more inclusive, anti-racist organization. We’re in the process of creating a strategy to help ensure we reflect the true diversity of Philadelphia, including partnering with and supporting more Black-led organizations and businesses, engaging with diverse communities, as well as adding more diverse members to our board. We’re proud to have raised over $3,300 this year for Black Lives Matter, Mill Creek Urban Farm, Friends of Malcolm X Park and Everybody Eats Philly. Our board will also be participating in a two-part diversity & inclusion training this month. We still have much more work to do, but look forward to our continued progress in 2021.
While we all wish 2020 was different and we can’t wait to return to “normal” again, ultimately I think 2020 will end up being an important year for many of us as we look to the future. I’m excited to take the lessons we learned this year and continue to grow Philadelphia’s community of volunteers in 2021.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns or ideas!
Best,
Caitlyn Foster, Board President
