Philly Health Hero Margaux Murphy Needs Your Vote

Margaux Murphy a Philly Health Hero? Definitely. There are some people who are just good, through and through. So good, and so kind and that we as a society don’t deserve them. Margaux Murphy is one of those people, and we’re so lucky to have her here in Philadelphia.

Margaux Murphy is one of the 10 Semifinalists up for a Philadelphia Magazine Be Well Philly Health Hero Award, and she and her organization Sunday Love Project are so deserving. The contest will award one grand prize winner a $15,000 donation for the local non-profit organization of their choice that impacts the health and wellness of our community.

Margaux Murphy is one of the 10 Semifinalists, who will be reduced to 3 finalists after this round of voting closes on September 29th. You can vote once a day, every day until September 29th. Please vote for Margaux! If she is voted through this round, Sunday Love Project would win $2,500 at a minimum, and could win a $15,000 donation! As Margaux puts it, “There is no loser here because all 10 Semifinalists are doing great things!”. That may be true, but let’s please help Margaux win. Please vote for her once a day if you can, through September 29th. Please vote HERE. It only takes a minute.

Margaux Murphy is kindness personified. She so deserves the title of a Philly Health Hero, and if she were to win, Margaux and Sunday Love Project will be able to make this donation stretch so far. Please vote for Margaux!

I first learned about Margaux when she was serving food out of the basement of a church in Rittenhouse Square. She would distribute food and goods there, and would also fill her car with food platters and drive into the areas of Kensington most in need, and hand out the meals to anyone who was hungry. People in the neighborhood began to flock to her every time they spotted her car.

It’s hard to quantify the number of people Margaux and her organization Sunday Love Project have fed over the years. The display of love and the amount of energy and effort that she puts into feeding people who are down on their luck every single day, and for years. It’s exhausting to think about really. The woman just keeps going. Through the pandemic she found ways to feed numbers she’s never seen before. She’s opened her own home to people who need help on more than one occasion, and she’s a friend to so many.

Really, Margaux is just such a lovely person. An example of just how much of a difference one person can make. I am in awe of all that she does and continues to do.

Margaux and Sunday Love Project have set up Greater Goods, a beautiful FREE grocery store in a community in great need, right in the center of Kensington.

Margaux and her wonderful volunteers are there every weekday helping to feed the community. She even set up a small portion of the store for children to “shop” for their own food items. It's complete with tiny little shopping carts, just their size. She’s a saint, and the work that they do there is so important. HERE is a wonderful Philadelphia Inquirer article written about Margaux and Sunday Love Project from March of 2021.

There are other beautiful organizations helping supply the Greater Goods store too. Sharing Excess is another incredible local organization, helping to take food that would go bad and get it to those who need it. They provide a large amount of food donations to Sunday Love Project’s Greater Goods Free Grocery Store. The local Grocery Outlet that just moved into Kensington on American Street (my grocery store) also makes regular food donations to the Greater Goods Free Grocery Store. So many wonderful people volunteer their time and resources to the store every day, and there is always a need. We can help too.

Below are the items that the store needs most. (Think shelf-stable, non-perishable foods like peanut butter and jelly, canned goods, diapers and wipes.)

Peanut butter
Jelly
Household cleaning supplies
Healthy snacks for the kids fridge/aisle
Kids books (especially Spanish)
Gatorade or power drinks
Sugar (in bulk or 3-5 lb bags)
Canned corn
Pasta
Toothpaste
Deodorant
Shampoo/conditioner
Razors
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Sunblock
Cereal
Canned soups
Cleaning supplies
Diapers size 4-6
Wipes
Bottles
Pacifiers
Depends (or any adult diapers)

If you arrange with me to drop off at the radio station in Bala Cynwyd (and it can fit in my car), I can get it to Greater Goods for you. Send me an e-mail at Kristen@957benfm.com. You can also order items online or via Amazon and have them delivered. Please contact Margaux at SundayLoveProject@gmail.com for details. And thank you! Any items donated to Sunday Love Project will be put to good use, and distributed to a community in great need. Thanks for considering.

If unable to make a food or goods donation, you can also donate monetarily HERE. Your daily vote for Margaux Murphy in the Philly Magazine Be Well Philly Health Hero Challenge can also potentially help the organization monetarily! HERE’s the link again, and thank you for voting once a day, every day.

They’re also holding a Sunday Love Project fundraiser at Cantina La Martina, a James Beard Award nominated Mexican restaurant in Kensington (SO good) this Wednesday, September 20th at 5pm. The food is amazing. Tickets are $100 and grant you entrance to the event, 1 drink and hors d’oeuvres. Proceeds from the event support this amazing organization. Purchase tickets HERE.

The fall season is a glorious time in America. From coast to coast, many different areas off beautiful fall colors in radiant reds, oranges and yellows. So, what are the most beautiful spots for fall colors in America?

Peak fall foliage season is different based on where you are located. Some areas of the U.S. see fall colors as early as September, while others peak later on, such as in October or even November. Generally speaking, areas with longer winters will have earlies fall colors, and areas with longer summers will have later fall colors. Most of America hits peak fall foliage season in the month of October. Of course, areas bordering Canada will be the first to see those colors.

If you're wondering the science behind the fall colors, the color that the leaves become depends on a few factors. Those include the chlorophyll and weather conditions during the summer or fall. Chlorophyll is a pigment that aids in giving leaves their color. In general, big changes from the norm in precipitation, whether it's getting way too much rain or not enough, can really impact the fall foliage season.

Also, I remember last year, the radiant colors in my area fell off the trees early. The reason was that we had a wind storm come through, so the leaves fell prematurely. I was pretty upset about it, because not only do I like to see beautiful fall colors, I also like to paint fall colors. So, my muse was gone.

That said, if you are in the mood to view fall colors this year, here are some great places to do it. Read on for 10 Beautiful spots in America for fall colors. What are your favorite areas to see fall foliage? Reach out to me on social media here and let me know.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is stunning any time of the year, but especially in the fall. The trees on this 469-mile Appalachian attraction turn beautiful shades in the fall, so it's a splendor for the senses. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina and is divided into four districts: the Ridge region, the Plateau region, the Highlands region, and the Pisgah region.

If you're looking for a late spot to view vibrant fall colors, then we have just the area for you. Vogel State Park, located around the Chattahoochee National Forest in Blairsville, Georgia, is a great area to see fall foliage going into the first half of November. It's a great late-season trip.

https://gastateparks.org/Vogel

Cape May in New Jersey is a delightful area to see autumn colors later in the season. From mid-October and through November, the colors here are bright. Don't miss the views of the historic lighthouses in the area, too, plus all the area parks.

https://www.capemay.com/

Lamoille Canyon in Nevada offers some stunning looks in the autumn months. The area is located in the Ruby Mountains and offers a wide array of fall colors with plenty of different kinds of trees. You can drive on the 12-mile Lamoille Canyon Scenic Byway for a prime view.

https://travelnevada.com/outdoor-recreation/lamoille-canyon-ruby-mountains/

The north parts of Michigan are glorious in the fall months. Traverse City is located on Lake Michigan, and in the fall, the trees turn bright orange and yellow. This area gets really cold in the winter, so the summer and fall months are the best time to travel there. Spring is nice, too.

https://www.michigan.org/city/traverse-city

I know what you're thinking. Fall colors in Florida? The Sunshine State isn't known for their fall colors, but Torreya State Park offers some great, late-season views. The area has quite a few varieties of trees that show their colors in early November. It's worth the road trip, if you live south of there.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/torreya-state-park

Waterfalls and fall colors? That sounds great to me. The Tahquamenon Falls State Park has one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River. This state park is huge, too, offering 50,000 acres of forest. It's beautiful in the fall.

https://www.michigan.org/property/tahquamenon-falls-state-park

The Washington Crossing Historic Park is a special, historical area, because it's the spot where George Washington crossed the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey in 1776. Aside from its history, this Pennsylvania landmark is beautiful in the fall. It offers plenty of bright trees, as well as a colonial reenactment event.

https://www.washingtoncrossingpark.org/

The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee has some of the greatest fall foliage in America. It also has one of the longest fall foliage seasons, so you get plenty of time to take it in. The colors can arrive as early as the middle of September and go all the way through the middle of November. Take it in.

https://www.nps.gov/grsm/

Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary offers a great spot for a hike in the middle part of October, because the colors are so vivid. Expect a delightful view of the vibrant colors. It's a nice area if you don't want to travel to New Hampshire or Burlington, Vermont, and it's a bit more off the radar.