Problem: Litter. Solution: A volunteer army of litter lifters.

Problem: Lack of funds in many Philadelphia schools. Solution: Voluntary donation of tax abatement.

Problem: Hunger. Solution: A delivery system for donated food waste.

The problem-solvers: Residents like you and me.

At The Citizen’s first Solutions Open Mic Happy Hour on Tuesday night, we made a modest proposal to the crowd: In three minutes, tell us a problem Philly faces; your solution to fixing it; and what you need help with. Then we gave the floor to six Philadelphians to make their pitch.

What we got was a myriad of creative, brilliant, deceptively simple and meaningful ideas to make Philadelphia better for everyone who lives here. It was an exercise in optimism, and a lesson it’s always great to relearn: Philadelphians have what it takes to make this city great(er). Let’s help them do it.

Listen below for a recap of the ideas—and reach out to us for more information about how to get involved.