Groceries for Guns,” the popular exchange program that has removed more than 500 firearms from the streets and homes of Philadelphia so far this year, in return for grocery vouchers, moves to Germantown and Northwest Philadelphia on Saturday, March 31.

The exchange, under primary sponsorship of The Northwest Fund, will take place outside the Germantown District Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah, 6632 Germantown Avenue at Phil-Ellena Street, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Anyone who turns in a firearm – handgun, long gun, legal or illegal – will receive a voucher for $200 worth of groceries. The limit is two exchanges per person. Firearms are turned over to Philadelphia Police Department officers on the scene, no questions asked.

Co-sponsoring the third “Groceries for Guns” of 2007 are Congressman Fattah, who created the program, along with gun-exchange partners City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and State Senator Vincent Hughes. Other co-sponsors are Men United for a Better Philadelphia, Radio One, the Police Department and the participating grocery stores, The Fresh Grocer and Acme Markets. 

Previous exchanges were held January 15 – the Martin Luther King birthday observance -- at Columbia YMCA, N. Broad and Master Streets, North Philadelphia, and February 10 at the Center for Human Advancement, 4601 Market Street, West Philadelphia. Those exchanges netted 252 and 267 firearms respectively, which police checked out for live ammo and then destroyed. Police officials have praised the program as one of the department’s most effective single day weapons turn-ins. 

Robert Vance, chairperson of the Northwest Fund founded in 2005, said “Groceries for Guns” fits perfectly with the Fund’s mission to partner with community groups to work for safer neighborhoods.

"The Northwest Fund is a nonprofit organization and like many other community organizations, we are concerned about the increase in gun violence and strongly believe that a ‘Groceries for Guns’ initiative in the Northwest will help get guns of the street and make neighborhoods safer,” Vance said.

“We are proud to partner with Congressman Fattah, Councilwoman Reynolds Brown, Senator Hughes, and Men United for a Better Philadelphia on this vital mission.  After all, guns do kill people. Getting them off the street will save lives.

Congressman Fattah noted that 344 of the 406 homicide victims in Philadelphia last year were killed with firearms -- 85 percent of the 2006 homicide total so it is vital “to get lethal weapons out of circulation.

“The citizens of Philadelphia are fed up with the gun violence on our streets, and these exchanges show that they are eager to step up and do their part,” Congressman Fattah said. “We are all partners in getting these weapons off the streets and creating a Gun Safe Philadelphia.”

Councilwoman Reynolds Brown declared, “I am happy to partner with the Northwest Fund to get these weapons out of the homes and off the streets of Philadelphia. ‘Groceries for Guns’ is not just talk, it is action. It is a piece of the puzzle to make our City safer.”

As part of Gun Safe Philadelphia, Congressman Fattah and Senator Hughes on February 2 announced a $1,000 reward program through the Illegal Guns Hotline operated by the Citizens Crime Commission of the Delaware Valley at 215-546-TIPS.  Anonymous tipsters are in line for the reward if their information results in police seizure of illegal firearms and arrest of the firearms possessor.

For more information or directions, contact the Northwest Fund at 215-849-3517 or www.thenorthwestfund.org .