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More than 50 Chestnut Hill Rotary members, friends and neighbors collected warm winter clothing and food for clients of Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) in honor of Martin Luther King’s Day of Service.
Chestnut Hill Rotary has a tradition over the past several years collecting donations from members, friends and neighbors of the local community and deliver to PPP for use by their clients.
Pictured, front, l-r: David Gary Smith, Maggie Stoeffel, Chestnut Hill Rotary; Silvana Mazzella, Lead Executive Director, Viviana Ortiz, Director of Drop-In Services, Prevention Point; Carol Bates, Chestnut Hill Rotary; back, Prevention Point volunteers.
““We would not be able to do what we do without the generous donations of items from agencies like Chestnut Hill Rotary.”
The 10 carloads of supplies, delivered on Tuesday, included adult winter clothing, 480 pairs of thermal socks, supplies for making a chili dinner for over 200 people, ramen soup, snacks, a crate of fresh oranges, sandwiches, and other assorted items.
“Chestnut Hill Rotary really flew into action, the whole month of January, which has been bitter cold gathering warm winter clothing and food,” said Carol Bates, long-time member and one of the organizers of the project.
Prevention Point Philadelphia, a 30+-year-old organization, is located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia in the heart of the drug crisis. The organization provides an array of programs and services including a low-barrier shelter to a drop-in center for more than 36,000 people each year focused on harm reduction.
The organization was originally founded in 1991 by Act Up in response to the HIV epidemic. Under increasing response and pressure, then Mayor Rendell issued an executive order in 1992 legalizing the possession of syringes in Philadelphia.
“When you go down to Kensington, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and hopeless thinking and we are not going to solve this problem, said Maggie Stoeffel, Chestnut Hill Rotary’s Community Services Chair. “But, what I love about their mission is harm reduction. They keep people alive enough so that they can seek the help they need.”
In this 2024 video, Prevention Point's Board Chair, Ann Ricksecker and Chestnut Hill Rotary's Community Service Chair, Maggie Stoeffel, discuss the importance of supporting this community.
Kensington is known locally and even nationally for its drug market which leads to the perception that the residents are the primary users. But, according to Ann Ricksecker, Prevention Point’s board chair, “Because it’s become an open-air drug market, it is visited by people all over the region. More than 50% of the people we are serving are not originally from Kensington.”
There are a lot of misconceptions about people who are affected by drug use. “The human condition for people who have found themselves addicted to drugs is that decision-making and quality of life is completely challenged,” says Ricksecker. “Many people believe that they should just stop taking drugs.” But Ricksecker points out that the reasons people are addicted to drugs are “very complex.”
“It is so heartwarming,” said Stoeffel. “You feel really good when you make a delivery to Prevention Point. Their clients and staff greet you at the door, and their eyes light up with what you have that they need.”
“We would not be able to do what we do without the generous donations of items from agencies like Chestnut Hill Rotary,” said Ricksecker.
