Francisville/ Fairmount go on their own to save pool

So far, fund raising efforts to open all of Philadelphia’s pools this summer have fallen short – Mayor Nutter’s Splash and Summer FUNd has raised just $360,000 dollars towards a goal of $1.2 million. Meanwhile, residents of the Francisville and Fairmount sections of the city are combining their efforts to save the pool in their backyard. They are hosting a fundraiser tomorrow.

So far, fund raising efforts to open all of Philadelphia’s pools this summer have fallen short – Mayor Nutter’s Splash and Summer FUNd has raised just $360,000 dollars towards a goal of $1.2 million. Meanwhile, residents of the Francisville and Fairmount sections of the city are combining their efforts to save the pool in their backyard. They are hosting a fundraiser tomorrow.

Transcript:
When Fairmount resident Monica Hahn found out that the Francisville pool was one of the pools that would not be re-opened this summer, she decided to get involved.

Hahn: “We can’t count on a pool bailout, so we have to take matters into our own hands.”

Fairmount residents partnered with their neighbors in Francisville to start raising money. Penelope Giles is executive director of the Francisville Neighborhood development corporation. She wants the city to provide more incentive for people to get involved in the Splash initiative.

Giles: “We would like to gently suggest that the fund become a matching fund rather than a general fund. We think that would encourage more communities to start grassroots efforts like this to raise money to keep their pools open.”

Right now, money from the Splash fund could go to any pool in the city.

The fundraiser is tomorrow Saturday March 14, at the Francisville pool from 11 AM to 2 PM. For the latest information about the Splash and Summer FUNd effort check out It’s Our City and search for “pool.”

Listen:
Click on the play button below or right click on this link and choose “Save Link As” to download.

[audio: reports20090313pool.mp3]