RoundUp: Slimy enterprise for a good cause, and young ladies learn the ropes

She’s a slimer. In February, when 12-year-old Clara de Groot of South Philadelphia was diagnosed with leukemia, she looked for a distraction from her three rounds of chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and found it while playing with slime, which she calls her “stress ball.” The distraction grew into a passion project, “Slimes of Courage," in which she creates a variety of slime “flavors” — including grapefruit and “ooey-gooey bubble gum” — that she sells online. She donates all profits to benefit CHOP patients and their families. For more information, visit www.slimesofcourage.org.

Proper young ladies. On June 7, seven girls celebrated their graduation from The Salvation Army’s “Be Your Best” etiquette program with a formal afternoon tea party at Sofitel Philadelphia hotel and restaurant in Center City. Over the course of the free, nine-week program, which was led by an array of speakers, the girls, age 9 to 14, learned things like how to properly dress for a formal meal and set a proper table. Girls can sign up for the final summer course, which runs between July 12 and Aug. 16, at the Salvation Army West Philadelphia Corps Community Center at 5501 Market St. For more information, go to www.SAPhilly.org.

Seriously funny business. On May 17, local cartoonist Dave Blazek received the prestigious Reuben Award for best Newspaper Panel at the 73rd annual National Cartoonists Society banquet in Huntington Beach, Calif. He was recognized for his venerable cartoon, Loose Parts, which appears in The Inquirer’s funny pages every Sunday. Blazek, a native of Erie, Pa., started writing the cartoon while working as a copy writer in the marketing department of The Inquirer and Daily News. He has written and drawn the daily cartoon for nearly 20 years.

Food storage. On June 7, the Philadelphia branch of accounting and logistics firm Deloitte helped Share Food Program of Philadelphia, which provides food to needy people, make storage room for meals that are prepared elsewhere by the National School Lunch Program. More than 100 Deloitte volunteers helped clear more than 20,000 square feet of freezer space at Share’s facility at 2901 West Hunting Park Ave. The nonprofit agreed to store the Lunch Program meals after its longtime storage partner, Philadelphia Warehousing & Cold Storage, closed in April. For more information, go to www.sharefoodprogram.org.

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