A HUGE THANK YOU to Neighbourhood Small Grants for the financial support in making our complex wide Block Watch BBQ Party happen!
On this perfect day in mid-July, the relaxing warm sun helped us enjoy the connection with neighbours even more so! With NSG’s support, we enjoyed our delicious BBQ, food and drinks! The kids got to play active sports and group games using the purchased sports toys. They also got to play Charades, hosted by one of our neighbours. The purchased small gifts put a smile on their beautiful faces!
Parents got to relax, chat with their neighbours and were still able to keep an eye on their kids’ play! Even though some neighbours had to arrive late, we had a good turnout with thirty-some adults and their kids! It was heart-warming to see neighbours of diverse ages and backgrounds coming together!
We are also grateful to Collingwood Police Centre (CPC) for looking after our security concerns in the last few years. Their team and their invited VPD guest speaker joined our Party and spoke to us. We learned about their work, the essentials of community safety, the importance of reporting incidents, the what-to-dos or don’ts, as well as the roles that we Block Watch neighbours play in building a safe community. Neighbours were engaging and asked questions.
The highlight was having our VPD guest speaker bring his police vehicle. Adults and kids were all excited to be inside for a close look and capture the moments with photos of their loved ones!
Building a strong and connected community takes time. It also requires face-to-face connections. The challenge is for neighbours to recognize its importance and that we will all benefit from participation. While promoting the Party and asking for RSVP, knocking door to door gave me the opportunity to communicate with neighbours about this topic. They are starting to recognize the importance of Block Watch and neighbours looking out for each other. Some of them decided to join the party, whereas some decided to join Block Watch or both! The challenge of neighbours not showing up despite RSVP and some showed up without one all worked out to be fine. Planning requires some flexibility.
With a combination of having our Block Parties and a WhatsApp group, neighbours are becoming more engaged in their collaborative efforts. My various efforts in organizing the Party beforehand were so worthwhile. I am much encouraged by the increase in both attendance and participation this year (as we had our first one last year). More neighbours were willing to lend a hand in either BBQing, setting up, decorating, cleaning up, or helping with games. Some were very generous in bringing in appetizers to share. Some started to talk to each other for the first time, whereas others connected at a deeper level.
Many were thankful for this face-to-face fun time, and one even “felt so grateful”. This party has certainly played a big part in connecting us all. Our community spirit started to flourish. It will continue to do so as we continue to build connections!
