Rabbit rabbit and happy first day of December, 2020. Enjoy the leaves rotting on the sidewalks, fill your lungs with the lusty scent of vomitberry, um, ginkgo, and take a break from shopping for yourself and your family. It’s Giving Tuesday! At the bottom of the post, you will find a list with links to all the places you can donate to today. And hey– how about doing something nice today just because it feels good? Share this Hill Buzz with someone who’s never heard of THIH, for instance! And I know we’re not a non-profit, but if you want to support the blog, consider donating to us today.
Onward!
On Thanksgiving morning, we all awoke to the bizarre scene of a badly mangled car, which had apparently been driven straight into the Emancipation Monument at Lincoln Park. Tweets came in, asking what happened. From reports via WTOP and NBC-4, as well as neighbor accounts, it appears that a male driver and a female passenger were moving south on 12th Street NE at around 5:40 a.m. They were aboard a BMW sedan with dealer tags from Virginia. The car must have picked up a fair amount of speed because the crash caused the car to roll over and trap the passenger, who had to be cut out of the car. Both ended up at the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The car was left at the park for a few hours afterward apparently so as to finish the investigation, but was gone before noon. Did these two intrepid joyriders try to take out the Emancipation statue all on their own? What do you think– I say yes and would love to know more.
As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, Mayor Bowser’s government has issued more severe restrictions on restaurants, but many people have a lot of questions (WUSA-9) — specifically, what is the definition of outside?
It seems that even though the pandemic has decimated the restaurant industry, Rose’s Luxury will open a new place on Barracks Row. According to Washington Business Journal, Rose’s at Home will become a bricks-and-mortar concept, just two doors south of the original.
The treehouse of our discontent came into the world with a litigious holler but it appears as though it’ll leave it with barely a whimper– and an arborist present. The princess house on Archibald Walk created neighbor animosity and division, but it’ll come down in 2024 after a good-faith agreement was reached. (Washington Post)
In important Districtwide news, chief of police Peter Newsham is moving to Prince William County, Virginia. Here’s hoping that their crime rate doesn’t spike? Colbert King wrote a very earnest opinion piece on the disconnect between Newsham and the DC Council (Washington Post). This is not the first time that King writes about that fraught relationship– his opinion piece from March offers a more nuanced view. Charles Allen, of whom one can only assume Newsham is not a big fan, issued a statement on the chief’s departure (via the DC Line). By far, the most eye-opening opinion on Newsham’s departure comes from Allison Hrabar, whose Tweets about COVID data I’ve shared in previous Hill Buzz columns. This is a thread, so I recommend clicking through and reading the whole thing:
In the thread, she links to this 2017 interview with Chief Newsham from Washington City Paper.
The Navy Yard car barn, a.k.a. the blue castle, will soon become a center for early learning and family development, Phase Family Center. The center will be one of two locations, as the flagship is located in Alpharetta, GA. PR Web
GIVING TUESDAY
A tradition that started in 2012 as a partnership between the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation (the charitable giving is sooooo much better in New York), Giving Tuesday is a day where we appreciate the work all our non-profits do year-round and we celebrate generosity. Here on the Hill, we have several wonderful places where you can donate today. The donation link is under every place’s name and what follows is a brief line of information. Did I miss one? Email me at info@thehillishome.com and tell me.
CHAW: Where there is no self-expression and no art, there is no beauty. And where there is no beauty, our souls die. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop has been creating a space for self-expression, art and beauty and therefore nurturing the soul of our neighborhood since 1972.
Capitol Hill Community Foundation: When you believe in your neighborhood, you give back to it. That’s what CHCF does every year, giving 100% of their donations back to the area’s schools, youth sports teams and more.
Capitol Hill Village: The importance of aging with dignity in the place you’ve called home is something we don’t think about often enough, but it is at the center of CHV’s mission. Through a corps of volunteers, they help enrich the lives of our older residents and provide a network of caring.
Capitol Hill BID/Ready, Willing and Working: Before they were our beloved street ambassadors, helping our streets look beautiful and always smiling, many of the Capitol Hill BID Men in Blue were people with criminal pasts, a lack of support and an inability to make a change. Thanks to RWW, they receive emotional, mental and practical support to live better lives.
Cultural Tourism DC: If you love knowing more about our beautiful city and want to support the tourism economy, which has been so adversely affected due to the pandemic, donate to our friends at Cultural Tourism DC. They don’t just provide entertainment but make the city’s history and culture vibrant and interesting.
East City Art: If art is happening, especially east of the river, East City Art knows it. An essential voice in the DC arts scene, ECA has been doing their support and reviews since 2010.
Everyone Home DC: We are all neighbors, but some of us are not fortunate enough to have a home. Everyone Home works hard to provide a network for those experiencing homelessness, so everyone feels cared for.
FRESHFARM: Through providing fresh produce to underserved communities, farmers markets and via their educational off-shoot, Foodprints, FRESHFARM nourishes our communities.
J.O. Wilson Elementary PTA: Support your local schools as they support your children and their community.
Little Lights: People who live in poverty are vulnerable, but among the most vulnerable are the children who grow up in these difficult circumstances. Little Lights provides ministering, support and services to our youngest neighbors through mentoring, after-school programs.
Little Lights/Hill Havurah partnership: Help these two organizations provide toys for families in need.
Sasha Bruce Youthwork: Homeless youth are vulnerable, but they are in even more danger through this pandemic. Help Sasha Bruce Youthwork’s mission of providing warmth and caring for
Serve Your City: This mutual-aid network has been working tirelessly to make sure kids have digital resources to go to school and to make sure families are fed. They’ve now turned their attention toward the unhomed population in our neighborhood, so they can live in dignity.
The TraRon Center: For victims of violence, healing is one of the most important and difficult things to do. The TraRon center focuses on treating PTSD in children and youth through art.
Washington Bach Consort: It’s no secret that live performances and entertainment have suffered a great deal through this pandemic. Help the musicians make it through this terrible time and keep the beautiful music going. We need art.
Incidentally, McDonald’s across the DC area will be donating $100 in people’s names to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. This lasts through December 31, so it’s not exclusive to Giving Tuesday. From their press release,“To participate, just post a photo or video making the RMHC heart symbol (or another supportive message) to Instagram, Twitter, TikTok or Facebook using #HEREforRMHC.”
The Washington Post’s Petula Dvorak also offers a list of places to help. She includes Capitol Hill Village, in particular. Read the whole essay if you need a reminder of why it does good to do good.