Announcing down2earth Interior Design’s Year of Service to Celebrate our 15th Anniversary

In our previous post commemorating down2earth interior design’s 15th anniversary, I mentioned that our team plans to celebrate with a year of service. This idea came from our design consultant, Avigail, and we all immediately loved it. We kicked off with lunch where we brainstormed ideas to make our communities better and then voted on a project we can all undertake together. Our collective effort will be a community planting and work day at High School Park, right here in our Elkins Park community. Friends of High School Park is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and what better way to celebrate than to help out with the weeding and planting.

In addition to the collective service day we are planning, each of our team members has committed to acts of service in our community. Each of the 5 team members have committed to 3 acts of service, so 15 individual acts this year in honor of our 15th anniversary. To be honest, all of our team members regularly engage with community causes, and I’m sure that the 15 number will be greatly exceeded. Rather than enumerating every act, we each wanted to take a moment to share a cause we’re involved with that is near and dear to our hearts, with the hope that you learn about some of the good work going on in our communities.

Amy Cuker

Interior Designer

We mentioned that our collective project will be a workday at Friends of High School Park. Because I believe so strongly in local efforts making a positive impact, my involvement with this organization does not end there. Friends of High School Park is a non-profit volunteer organization whose mission is to create, manage, and preserve a viable 11+ acre native ecosystem within Cheltenham Township’s High School Park for the enjoyment and education of the community. For three years, I have served as the co-chair of the music committee, coordinating musical acts and managing publicity for the park’s summer concert series (and this year, I added the Arts in the Park music coordination to my plate). It is so gratifying to see folks from the community come together on a summer evening in this beautiful green space to enjoy music and each others company. It feels like something that is unequivocally good.

The 9’s perform at Arts in the Park

As a board member for Friends of High School Park, I have also been planning a 30th Anniversary Celebration where we shared stories of the park’s 30 year history and raised money for continued maintenance and improvements.

Photos by Henry Berson

Jillian Moskovitz

Design Consultant

A few years ago, I learned about the Horizons program and the great work they do advancing educational equity. Horizons partners with local schools and provides tuition-free academic and enrichment programs to K-8 students during out-of-school time. Inspiring minds and building partnerships between schools, families and communities are core values of the Horizons program. As the daughter of a teacher, education has always been important to me. I’m especially interested in educating our community about this wonderful program and involving local middle school and high school students to volunteer with this worthy mission.

Stephanie Ebner

Design Consultant

As an interior designer, I understand how important it is to have a place to call home, and I believe everyone deserves a home that is safe and comfortable. While I don’t have a single favorite organization I volunteer with, I’m always passionate about volunteering for causes that support affordable housing. One of my first experiences was in college when I volunteered with the National Relief Network in New Orleans to help restore homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the unique ways different organizations across the country make housing more accessible in their communities. I’ve volunteered with well-known groups like Habitat for Humanity and smaller organizations like Epicenter in Green River, UT, a nonprofit organization that focuses on rural community grow through affordable housing, economic development, and the arts. Through these experiences, I’ve seen firsthand how access to affordable housing uplifts individuals and strengthens communities. It’s always rewarding to use my skills and experience in interior design to help create spaces that people can truly call home.

Avigail Cohen Sorek

Design Consultant

As an interior designer and architect, I’ve always been passionate about creating spaces that are both beautiful and functional. Recently, I had the honor of volunteering my professional skills to enhance the physical space of the South Philadelphia Shtiebel, a congregation of which I’m proud to be a member. The Shtiebel, founded by Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter, aims to nourish Jewish spiritual growth and build community through prayer, learning, and acts of kindness. It has grown into a modern, inclusive gathering place for people of all backgrounds.

My contribution involved rethinking and redesigning the space to feel larger and more accessible. I continue to support the community by advising on the use of different rooms and exploring future possibilities for relocating and expanding as the community grows. It’s been incredibly rewarding to use my expertise to give back to my community. I’ve discovered that making a difference right in our own backyard can be just as powerful as larger-scale efforts, and I feel grateful to be part of such meaningful local impact.

Tara Kingsley

Operations Manager

For the last four years I have contributed to Jenkintown Food Cupboard. When I started volunteering it was early spring of 2021 and I’d been feeling increasingly isolated due to the pandemic. At the time, I was living in Jenkintown and I loved the idea of supporting an organization located in my close-knit community. I was drawn to their vital mission of supplying food to well over 150 families in need in Montgomery County. Their clever full-choice distribution model allows their patrons to select what they truly need in supplies each week. While you can opt to shop with their drive through, there are patrons who are home bound. This is where I and other volunteers come in, by delivering directly to their homes. You can find more information about Jenkintown Food Cupboard at their website. Please consider volunteering yourself, or perhaps making a donation.

We love giving back to our communities as much as we enjoy making our clients’ design dreams comes to fruition. If you have a project in mind, please fill out our Client Contact Form and we will reach out to you to discuss.