By: Denise Foley

Keep these girls marching and dancing.

Like everything else, the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade has fallen on some hard times, largely because of the city’s huge budget deficit.

This year, says parade director Michael Bradley, city officials said they couldn’t pick up the expense for police and post-parade cleanup, which leaves the parade committee about $40,000 short. “We’ll do it, that’s all, I’m pretty much an optimist,” says Bradley. “But it will be difficult to come up with that money in a short period of time.”

The parade is scheduled for Sunday, March 15.

In past years, the parade association has paid for things like bleachers, stands, and portable toilets “that other parades don’t pay for,” says Bradley. That makes these additional costs (which include police over-time) more onerous.

“We’ve had the suggestion that we charge participants more money, but the city really didn’t give us a lot of turnaround time so I don’t think I want to do that to the groups,” says Bradley. Instead, he and committee members want to do some old-fashioned fundraising, hitting up the high rollers and the low.

“I was honored a couple of years ago by the March of Dimes and I hadn’t really thought about their name and how they raised money by collecting dimes,” he says. “Nickels and dimes count too.”

So, check around the house. Donate the jar of change on the dresser, the coins you can find by fishing around underneath the cushions of your chairs and couch, the ones that jingle at the bottom of your purse and pocket. If you have some spare change to donate, contact Bradley at info@philadelphiastpatsparade.com.