North Center Satellite Senior Center located at 4040 N. Oakley at the senior campus by Irving Park and Western is in need of donations of the following items: Tea Cups with saucers, vintage table clothes - for round and long tables, Tea pots, Sugar and Creamers, Tea cozies, 3-tiered serving stands, anything related to tea like tea infusers, sugar tongs etc. In addition, we are looking for gently used books of all types for our upcoming LitFest IV Have I Got Another Story. . . and Book Sale  June.   Items can be dropped off here at the center in bags or boxed to the attention of Liza Martin or can be picked up from you by contacting Liza at lmartin@catholiccharities.net or by phone 312-744-4029.  Our senior center services over 1700+ active participants 55 years and better per month.   

Mayor Emanuel and County Board President Preckwinkle announced Monday that more than 18,000 Chicago young adults ages 16-24 will gain valuable job training and work experience this summer as part of 2013's One Summer Chicago Program.   

Of the 18,000 job opportunities 7,000 will be with after school matters, 3,900 will be with Chicago Park District, and 2,200 will be with the Chicago Housing Authority. The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) leads One Summer Chicago in partnership with participating agencies including: Chicago Department of Transportation, Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Housing Authority, After School Matters, Chicago Public Libraries, City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, Chicago Police Department, Mayor's Office of People with Disabilities, and Cook County Forest Preserve. Notable private sector participants include the Chicago Community Trust, Bank of America, Boeing Corporation, McCormick Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the Rotary Club, Chicago Cares, the Urban Alliance, Smart Chicago, and the University of Chicago Crime Lab.   

To help parents and children find and take advantage of these opportunities in the third year of this program, the city of Chicago website - www.OneSummerChicago.org - is available for youth to apply for jobs through a common application and provides information to parents on how to connect with more than 190,000 other recreational activities. The site has details on jobs and internships for youth. Online registration and application for summer employment is available now through May 31, 2013. The site also helps direct families to summer camps, organized sports programs, summer field trips to cultural institutions and other noteworthy locations across the city. 

Dry weather is here just in time for our 47th Ward Clean Up on Saturday!  Neighborhood volunteers will be working at many locations in the ward during Saturday's Clean & Green. Here are a few of the areas that will benefit from our caring neighbors:

• Andersonville South Neighbors Association boundaries
• Jacob Play Lot, 4674 N. Virginia Avenue
• Mary Hartwell Catherwood Senior Buildings Vegetable Gardens, 3920 N. Clark Street
• McPherson School, 4728 N. Wolcott Avenue
• Sunken Gardens Park, 4500 N. Virginia Avenue
• Waters Community Garden, W. Wilson & N. Campbell Avenues
• Winnemac Park, 5101 N. Leavitt Street
• 4200 Winchester Neighbors

After the rain and flooding this month, this is the perfect time to think about street cleaning. What do street cleaning and flooding have to do with one another? If the streets cannot be swept or if we allow debris and muck to remain in our gutter it can quickly get trapped underneath parked cars and lodge along the curb. This debris can harbor bacteria and pollutants and then clogs the sewers and storm drains which causes flooding. Remember, the street sweeper is a large vehicle. When it maneuvers away from the curb to avoid a parked vehicle, it can take two car lengths before the street sweeper can reach the curb again. If several cars are parked along a block, the street sweeper may not be able to sweep the entire block.There are a number of important steps you and your neighbors can do to prevent this:

• Remind neighbors to move their cars on street cleaning days. Maybe a group email or phone tree the night before would be helpful. On my block, we knock on doors before 9am the morning of street cleaning days.
• Use a broom and dustpan to clean the gutter in front of your home and dispose of the debris in a garbage cart. If you use a hose, the water will carry the debris down the street and into the storm drain or sewer. Try not to water your lawns on street sweeping days. A dry curb and pavement allows for a better pick-up of dirt and debris by the street sweeper.
• Dispose of leaves, yard debris and tree branches, "green waste," as part of your regular trash pick-up, and try to avoid sweeping this green waste into the street. Large piles of branches or debris can cause damage to the vacuum operation of the street sweeper and therefore streets are not swept around them.
• Keep the tops of storm drain grates clear of all debris. This is very critical so water can flow slowly into the system.
• If you know that a landscaping service is blowing leaves into the street, report this location to our office along with the name of the landscaper and phone number (if possible). We will warn them that this is illegal and burdens our stormwater sewer system.

We live in this neighborhood for many different reasons - location, schools, restaurants, retail, transportation. For me, most of all - it's because people really care about and take care of their neighbors and this neighborhood.

Wanted! Your unused garden space.  Do you have garden space that you aren't using? There are neighbors looking for space for vegetable gardening.  They are happy to share the bounty of the garden, trade labor for space and create a warm community feeling. Sound crazy? We initiated our first home community garden last year and it went so well it is continuing this year. Want to consider it? Call me: Dara 773-868-4747

Oak Trees available for planting.  It is time again to plant trees, and if you have a space for a new tree on your property, Waters Elementary School is offering some saplings for free.  The ancient burr oak trees that grace the property produce a bounty of acorns every fall, and the squirrels kindly plant them for us.  They intend to return to these acorns for food in the winter, but they lose some of them-and those acorns sprout!  That means that Waters has an abundance of small bur oak trees to offer for you to plant in your yard or parkway this spring.  If you would like one, contact Pete Leki at petelekisan@gmail.com or Mark Dawson at msjddawson@sbcglobal.net.  You can also contact our office.