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8:42 AM / Thursday February 13, 2025

31 Jul 2023

Nicetown Community Development Corporation to host Giveback Festival

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July 31, 2023 Category: Local Posted by:

By Constance Garcia-Barrio
ABOVE PHOTO: Scenes from last year’s Nicetown CDC Giveback Festival and Peace March.
Photos: Nicetown CDC

Nicetown Community Development Corporation (CDC)’s 21st Annual Community Giveback Festival, will take place from August 11 to August 12. According to Majeedah Rashid, chief operating officer of the organization, the event will emphasize useful resources, employment, and strategies for peaceful conflict resolution.

Zakariyya Abdur-Rahman, president and CEO of Nicetown CDC and Majeedah Rashid, chief operating officer of Nicetown CDC.

A Peace Parade will also take place, and groups that advocate for peace will be represented, Rashid said. For example. Mothers in Charge, an organization that works to stop violence and heal its damage, will have a booth.

“There will also be helpful information, entertainment, and a chance to celebrate the year’s accomplishments, and more,” Rashid said.

Zakariyya and Majeedah (bottom and top photos) speak at their annual Nicetown CDC Give Back events.
Photo: Nicetown CDC

The upcoming Nicetown Giveback weaves the CDC’s strands of effort into a “unifying, celebratory, informational event,” according to Rashid. The festival will take place in and near Nicetown Park in the 4300 block of Germantown Avenue.

“This year’s focus is peace and unity,” Rashid said. “Comcast is our presenting sponsor. It’s our 21st year. Block captains, civic leaders, religious leaders, panels of experts, youths and others will take part. Political leaders will also attend. There’ll be food vendors, basketball clinics, concerts, amateur boxing, step shows, the Philly Goat Project, PECO, Einstein, Temple, and a whole area for the children. Men of Courage, who train adult men to mentor young males, will be there.”

Guests can enjoy themselves and get a wealth of information, Rashid noted.

The theme of peace runs deep for Zakariyya Abdur-Rahman, Rashid’s husband and president and CEO of Nicetown CDC. Abdur-Rahman, who lost two sons to violence, considers it crucial to help bring harmony to his home turf and Philadelphia as a whole.

“Violence has become a pressing issue,” he said.

A community focused mission

Abdur-Rahman was born and raised in North Philadelphia, at 17th and Ontario.

“My father, James T. Knight, owned a gas station. We were inculcated in the work ethic,” Abdur-Rahman said of his siblings and himself. “I was a gas station attendant from the time I was 8-years-old. I would wash a car’s windshield and mirrors, do whatever I could to make the customer happy.”

Abdur-Rahman added that he made more from tips than from his wages.

The importance of work, a lesson learned in Abdur-Rahman’s childhood, has guided his life and leadership.

Rashid was also raised in North Philadelphia.

“I grew up near Girard College,” she said. “When I was a little girl, Martin Luther King came there,” she said of a protest against the school’s former whites-only policy. Begun in May of 1965, the protest marches led by Cecil B. Moore ended with the school’s desegregation three years later. “Martin Luther King’s coming was a big thing.”

After an early marriage and the raising of nine children — all grown now — Rashid was inspired to become active in community affairs.

“We’re Muslim,” said Rashid, who studied community economic development at Southern New Hampshire University. “We lived a simple, faithful life. I joined other mothers to build a strong community.”

Z and Z Distributors, located on 4416 Germantown Avenue.
Photo by Rejean Wilson

Abdur-Rahman, who attended Temple University’s Fox School of Business, and a coalition of business associates, formed the Nicetown CDC in 1999. The organization reflects his appreciation of work as well as his and Rashid’s convictions about the power of community.

“We have to re-educate ourselves,” Abdur-Rahman said. “We can produce to meet our own needs.”

Abdur-Rahman — owner of Z and Z Distributors, 4416 Germantown Avenue, which carries snack foods, detergent, and other products — brings to his position as CEO a vision of self-reliance, the centrality of work, and four pillars for thriving neighborhoods: good affordable housing, business opportunities, education, and recreation.

“People want to live, work, and educate themselves near a safe, walkable commercial corridor,” he said, mentioning the importance of playgrounds and recreation centers.

Rashid, who joined Nicetown CDC in 2003 or 2004, sometimes finds herself assisting people in crises involving basic necessities through the CDC’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC), an organization that helps residents learn about city programs that benefit them.

An employee of Z and Z Distributors unpacks one of their popular items–Rap Snacks, sold throughout Philadelphia.
Photos: Nicetown CDC

“People come to the NAC for everything from a recycling bin to an air conditioner,” Rashid said. “They often need things that support them in a crisis. We go beyond handling people’s emergencies. We sit down with the person and find out how they got [into a difficult spot]. We also follow up to make sure that they’ve connected with the required resources.”

Crime sometimes comes from a lack of life’s basics, Rashid pointed out.

“If you don’t have food or clothes or if you have nowhere to sleep, it can push you to edge,” she said.

The CDC has a program for people who may find themselves at or near the brink.

“We have street outreach workers,” Rashid explained, referring to experienced savvy staffers who approach people on the corners and try to redirect their energy. “Not everyone can do that kind of work.”

The outreach team may suggest P3, or Pushing Progress Philly, located at 4414 Germantown, to people in need. P3, which offers 12 months of training and supportive services, provides participants with paid employment, job training, and coaching, Rashid said. Call: (215) 764-3971 or email: [email protected] for more information.

The CDC has also launched an 8-week Summer Empowerment Program for youths from ages 13 to 18. The program includes job readiness training, life skills, mental health, and more, Rashid said. It offers financial incentives for participants who complete four days per week. For more information, contact [email protected] or call: (215) 324-9772.

For more details about the Nicetown CDC and the upcoming festival, visit: www.nicetowncdc.org

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