Plus, how to give back to the Pittsburgh community!
November 2022
The Giving Thanks Issue
Giving Thanks & Giving Back
As we sat around the table with friends and family yesterday for Thanksgiving, we were filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. For the people gathered around us. For the nourishing food on our tables. For the ability to spend time with loved ones. And for our Salon community.
Thank you for showing up, supporting each other, and helping us create the diverse, inclusive, and fun collective that we envisioned when we began this journey three years ago. We continue to carve out a space in Pittsburgh — while navigating a world in which Covid is still very real — and we are grateful to everyone who has supported our community and helped us learn and grow along the way.
Beyond gratitude, this time of year is a reminder of how important it is to give to others, whether financially or by volunteering our time. Giving Tuesday is the perfect opportunity to make good on our intentions to give back.
If you’re not sure where or how to get involved, Give Big Pittsburgh has this handy list of local non-profits in the area. Peruse the organizations and find a cause (or causes) to support.
And in this time of giving thanks, we'd like to close out this week’s note by acknowledging and honoring the Shawnee Tribe and Osage Nation as the Indigenous stewards of the ancestral lands we now live on.
—Meredith
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Ways To Give Back This Holiday Season
Support your neighbors and those in need by giving back to the community. Not sure where to start? We’ve rounded up some opportunities to do just that this holiday weekend and throughout December.
Jubilee Soup Kitchen is always looking for volunteers. Help them prepare food, serve hot meals (which they do 365 days a year), clean and wash dishes, work in the community garden, or help in the clothing room.
So is East End Co-Op Ministry, a local nonprofit that helps those struggling with food and housing insecurity as well as barriers to employment.
Guardian Storage is hosting its annual Coat and Sock Drive until November 30. Stop by any location to donate a new or gently used coat or new socks for those in need.
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank always experiences an increased need during the colder weather months. Support the cause by donating your time or money — $50 effectively provides 250 meals.
The West Hills Food Bank Drive is taking place until December 1. Provide food donations in the form of canned and dry goods. Special requests for the cold months are hot chocolate, tea, coffee, and instant hot cereals.
Through December 15, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is holding its 23rd 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, Friendship Circle, Jewish Residential Services, Chabad Young Professionals, and Chabad on Campus are hosting Challah For Change on December 1 to raise money for hunger-related charities through baking and selling challah. Prep, braid, and bake challah for the first hour and learn about Leket, Israel’s national food bank, in the last half hour.
Open Fridays Schedule
No Open Fridays Today // Due to Thanksgiving, we will not be hosting Open Fridays today. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and we’ll see you on December 2 when weekly hangouts are back on.
The Salon is a place to dabble in the unknown. We provide an admittedly eclectic (but community-led!) range of programming. One week, it might be an academic discussing the gender pay gap. Next, it might be wine tasting and hipster puzzles. Indulge in new things with us! And if it makes you a bit nervous, that might be a good thing. Find out for yourself what we’re all about.
Explore Salon-specific programming centered on topics, activities, and conversations that most appeal to and resonate with women and those that identify as women.
This month, we’re burying our noses in Fools In Love: Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales, edited by Amanda Herring Blake and Rebecca Podos. Join us to talk about critical themes and plot points, listen to others’ thoughts, and share our own impressions and opinions. No worries if you don’t finish the book or haven’t been part of the Book Circle until now — you can jump in at any time. Register here!
This year, wow your holiday party guests with an impressive charcuterie board wreath. Sarah, the owner of EZPZ Gatherings, will teach us the art of making a show-stopping, holiday-themed meat and cheese board so you can take your charcuterie board skills to the next level. Charcuterie supplies provided. Register here!
Parenting Adolescents Meet-Up
Mon, December 12
5:30-7 pm
In The Salon
There's no two ways around it, parenting is complicated. So if you're looking for a group of supportive moms and mother figures who are also navigating the complex world of parenting, join us once a month for our Parenting Adolescents Meet-Up. Facilitated by Salon member Laura Jones we'll gather together to vent, laugh, cry, and be honest about your parenting struggles and successes, without judgment. Parenting isn’t easy, but our community is here for you. SERIES: December 12, January 16.
Start your day with a pick-me-up and conversation. Drop in to The Salon to hang out with (and meet!) fellow Salon members, warm up with complimentary coffee or tea, and generally have a good time. It’s a great way to get a feel for The Salon and connect with local women. Oh, and don’t hesitate to bring a friend along. Open and free to all. Register here!
Who says you need liquor to make a mean cocktail? Join The Salon and Mel Babitz, owner of the non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits shop The Open Road, for a mini mixology class minus the booze. We'll learn how to craft a scrumptious concoction, then send you home with all the details so you can make it for yourself to wind down after work or impress your friends at your next dinner party. Register here!
ICYMI...
OPTICVOICES: Mama’s Boys, one of the latest exhibits at The August Wilson Center, is an interactive, mixed-media exhibit that orbits the healing of mothers who have lost their sons due to systemic violence and aims to fossilize their legacy. Be sure to view it before January 29 when the exhibit moves on. ❤️
Local mom and Somerset resident Tina Honkus just self-published Paddy Pancake, a children’s book about a dog 🐶who travels the world meeting different dogs and sampling pancakes along the way. 🥞A portion of online sales will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Commonplace Coffee debuted a limited-edition coffee blend that gives back. The Pollock Blend — created in collaboration with local artist Jim Pollock — features notes of dried cherry, peanut brittle, and dark chocolate. ☕The coffee shop will donate 25% of the proceeds to The Divided Sky, an organization that delivers quality care and compassionate treatment to those affected by alcoholism and addiction. Available until January 10! 🙌
