Plus, a sneak peek into a conservator’s workspace!
November 2021
The Giving Back Issue
Practicing Gratitude & Giving Back
Hi there,
Ready for an end-of-the-week pick-me-up? On Tuesday, a local middle school wrapped up its annual Thanksgiving food drive with a total of 12,000 pounds of food for local families in need. In the 20 years the school has been doing the drive, it’s the most food they’ve collected — ever! Teachers, students — everyone got involved in collecting and distributing the donations to local churches and organizations. It was a heart-warming reminder that it’s important to be grateful for what we have and give back when we can, not just during the holidays, but all year long.
Neither of these actions has to be profound. Practicing gratitude can be as simple as appreciating a few minutes you got to enjoy a sunny day, being grateful for a supportive female friendship, or being thankful for a local park where kids can play and you can connect with your neighbors.
Giving back doesn’t need to be a grand gesture, either. Volunteering an afternoon of your time at a local food pantry or animal shelter, donating your clothes to a shelter instead of a thrift store, picking up a couple of extra cans of food at the grocery store for a food drive, or writing a note to a neighbor. These are all small ways to make a big difference in how we feel about ourselves and our communities.
Until next week,
—Meredith
P.S. Give Big Pittsburgh is back for its fifth year! On November 30, take the opportunity to get involved in this annual day of giving by donating what you can to one of your favorite local nonprofits.
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Support Your Neighbors By Giving Back
Looking for ways to help those in need in your community? We’ve rounded up some opportunities to do just that throughout November.
Volunteer your time. The Homewood and Hazelwood Food Pantries are looking for assistance to help with emergency food shopping and delivery, especially during the holiday season.
Local news station KDKA has partnered with PNC Bank and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to provide holiday meals to those in need through its Turkey Fund. Any amount helps!
The Dormont Food Pantry is holding a holiday food drive. Donations will go to the pantry’s partners at the Dormont Community Development Corporation and the funds will be used to purchase the groceries that will be distributed to those who request a meal. For those in need, meal requests can be made until December 1.
Guardian Storage is hosting its annual Winter Coat and Sock Drive. Find a location near you to donate new or gently used coats and new socks for those in need.
Through December 15, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is holding its 22nd Annual Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive. Donations of new and gently used adult and child-sized sweaters will be accepted on the porch of the Children’s Museum and at the Oaklander Hotel.
Repair the World Pittsburgh has partnered with local restaurant Everyday’s a Sunday to give out free Thanksgiving meals to those in need on November 24. Volunteer to help them on-site or aid in deliveries.
Join The Salon
Meet amazing Pittsburgh women. Experience new things and explore new ideas — together, at The Salon. Intrigued? Here’s the type of can’t-miss programming you can expect.
Salon Nights. 🌃
Led by a local expert, we'll have a fun night of collective indulgence in a new thing. Maybe that's wine tasting, maybe it's board games — or maybe both! But you'll have a new experience, good conversation — and you'll walk home with a curated package of whatever new thing we discovered.
Salon Series. 👯
Our workshop series will help you learn new skills and ideas directly from experts over the course of several weeks. Connect with a cohort of like-minded people, learn through dialogue, and leave with something valuable under your belt.
Salon Field Trips. 🏞️
We'll jump headfirst into local adventures. You'll get to try new things with cool people and access a discounted price.
Jump into an episode of The Repair Shop as we visit with art conservator Rikke Foulke. She’ll share her stories of restoring objects, paintings, and works of art on paper for museums and collectors while giving us a peek inside her workspace at 7800 Susquehanna. Register here!
There are not enough opportunities for BIPOC women to connect in Pittsburgh. If you self-identify as a woman of color, join us in building community and uplifting each other. Open and free for all. Register here!
Join us and artist/educator/photobook collector Christine Lorenz virtually for a discussion of the recently published What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women. The richly illustrated historical survey has taken the photography world by storm and has been named Catalogue of the Year by Aperture/Paris Photo. During the event, Christine will share a short overview of the roles of women in photobook history, and flip through a few landmark books featured in the 10x10 collection (plus a few more!) Register here!
Also ICYMI...
Introducing a better fanny pack. 🎒Local entrepreneur Brooke LaGrand is the woman behind PACKPACK, a line of quirky, one-of-a-kind fanny packs that are 100% biodegradable, ♻️ hand-stitched, and made of organic cotton and non-toxic dyes. 🙌
Get your heart rate up at Threadbare Cider’s Stair Stepping & Cider Sipping event this Saturday. 👟After you sweat it out through Troy Hill’s famous steps with Laura Zurowski, the creator of Mis.Steps, you’ll celebrate with a well-deserved cider. 🥂
Need an ice cream fix? 🍦Pre-order a pint from vegan ice cream shop Sugar Spell Scoops, where they whip up a rotating lineup of delectable seasonal flavors. I’m eyeing Pumpkin S’mores 🍫and Cran-Raz Ripple!
Congratulations to Pittsburgh artist Natalie Moffitt, 🎨whose colorful abstract oil on canvas paintings just landed at Concept Art Gallery in Regent Square. Stop by to check them out and maybe take one home. 🖼️
The “Dollysaurus” dinosaur statue 🦕on the corner of Braddock and Penn avenues in Point Breeze just got a glow-up thanks to a partnership with Shady Lane School and the co-founder of BOOM Concepts, an art hub in Garfield. She now dons words like “support,” “joy,” and “play” to promote diversity and inclusion. 💖
Know of a local female artist, community member, or entrepreneur doing awesome things in Pittsburgh? Let us know by emailing cathy@thesalonpgh.com or messaging us on Instagram @TheSalonPGH
Ideas for unwinding this weekend...
📖 What we’re reading: Hemming the Waterby Black Pittsburgh author Yona Harvey. Channeling the collection's muse, jazz composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams, the book speaks to the futility of trying to mend or straighten a life that is constantly changing.
🎧 What we’re listening to: The album Wary + Stage by artist Amythyst Kiah before she comes to the Kelly Strayhorn Theatre on December 4. Her bluesy, funky, upbeat tunes will put a pep in your step and have you jamming alone in your living room.
📼 What we’re watching: Every Tom Hanks movie playing during Row House Cinema’s Tom Hanksgiving movie series happening today through November 25.
