On Saturday, June 13, 2015, we held our Second Annual Neighbourhood Gathering for our two streets in the Terra Nova area of Richmond. We started this initiative to create community spirit, where previously there had been very little, as we learned many neighbours had never met and we wanted to create a caring neighbourhood where people wave and look out for each other. Our first event last year was a great success and we had many neighbours ask regularly when we would do it again!
Thanks to the wonderful generosity of the Neighbourhood Small Grants program through the Vancouver Foundation and Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives, we were able to gets our costs covered (for insurance, rentals, etc.) for this event. We invited some local stores to participate and received food donations from Starbucks and Subway (Terra Nova). Save-On Foods (Terra Nova) came through in a big way with two of their managers hosting a barbecue with hotdogs, drinks, snacks, fruit and iced desserts!
We printed and distributed (by email and hard copy) flyers advertising this gathering to neighbours, in both English and Chinese. We had a great response and turn out on a beautiful sunny day! Our event was located in a corner of a crescent which the City of Richmond barricaded off for us so people could safely stand on the street and children could play games and do chalk drawings. We had invited the auxiliary RCMP through the Block Watch program to attend our event, allowing them to answer questions about neighbourhood safety and offer tips as they mingled and showed off their patrol car. The rest of the event just came together with neighbours happily meeting and getting to know one another.
We feel the results of these Neighbourhood Gatherings on a daily basis in our community – whether from many people coming out to investigate when a house alarm is going off (previously most would ignore) to contacting neighbours to let them know when they’ll be away and ask to keep an eye on their home, pickup any local papers, etc., to simple waves and conversations and deepening friendships. It’s wonderful and we’re all looking forward to this annual event!
Share post:
