MP Community Association starts collection for holiday lights

The Morris Park Community Association (MPCA) has begun to collect donations for holiday lights and is asking merchants and community members to help make the season bright.

After an absence of the lights in 2007, MPCA took control last year to make sure that Morris Park residents and merchants would enjoy the decorations once again.

“We’re hitting the merchants for money again right after the [Columbus Day] parade but in the past the merchants always worked to make sure the community got what it needed,” MPCA president Al D’Angelo said.

For the second year in a row, MPCA is asking merchants to donate $100. The stands of lights cost approximately $600 each. In 2008, more than 30 strands hung on Morris Park Avenue from White Plains Road to Williamsbridge Road, and on Williamsbridge Road from Morris Park Avenue to Pelham Parkway. MPCA hopes to do the same this year. D’Angelo is asking community members to encourage merchant participation by thanking store owners who donate.

“We ask people to please go to those stores that have been good to us and pass by the ones that don’t do anything for the community,” D’Angelo said.

All stores that donate will receive signs from MPCA to let shoppers know that they helped illuminate the neighborhood. The Morris Park Alliance, the neighborhood’s merchant group, will assist MPCA solicit donations. It plans to email alerts to its members. MPCA will also welcome donations from residents. The lights are expected to be in place and lit within the next few weeks.

“We promised that from now on we would always have lights at Christmas time,” said D’Angelo. “There will be signs in the [store] windows so people can see who gave and hopefully residents will shop there – it’s important if they want lights in the future. It gets to the point where money is tight and the same merchants are still giving, so the least we can do is reward them in some way.”