The RoundUp: Santa Claus-dressed motorcyclist kicks off toy drive, nursing home employee gets surprise dedication
Do-gooders get their due.
Christmas in July. On July 28, members of the Highway Patrol Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department will escort a Santa Claus-dressed motorcyclist and about 500 of his friends on a ride from the Philadelphia Police Academy in the Northeast to Shriners Hospitals for Children in North Philadelphia. The arrival of the convoy, including members of the Philadelphia chapter of the Centurions, a police-sponsored motorcycle club, will kick off the group’s 23rd annual “Christmas in July Toy Run.” To date, the drive has raised nearly a half-million dollars in donations. For more information, call 215-768-0642.
Dedication. On July 11, Bucks County Commissioners cut the ribbon on Neshaminy Manor nursing home’s new courtyard and surprised longtime employee Kathy Bates with a dedication plaque that renamed the space in her honor. Bates, who is retiring this fall after 23 years as director of the home’s recreational therapy program, conceived of the idea for the courtyard about 18 years ago and was the driving force behind its construction. The courtyard, funded with nearly $500,000 in grants and donations, features a pavilion, stone patio, and garden for residents to tend to flower boxes.
Donations. In late June, the all-volunteer staff of Phoenixville Hospital Thrift Shop handed out more than $54,000 in sales proceeds to 13 area nonprofits during its annual donation ceremony and reception. The shop, opened by a group of women in 1975 to help support the hospital, has donated about $950,000 in the last 44 years. For more information about the Thrift Shop, at 238 Church St., call 610-983-1424.
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