Volunteer Vednesday 4/28/10

We’ve had a streak of nice weather recently, and that always puts me in a good mood. And that good spirit makes me think about neighboring. If you aren’t familiar with the concept of “neighboring”, it’s a grassroots form of civic engagement, where neighbors literally help other neighbors. Examples of this include helping your elderly neighbor carry her groceries from the store, doing an energy audit and changing the light bulbs in the house down the street, and starting a community garden. The idea is to improve the place where you live, and to enhance the relationships among its residents. When neighbors take action together, they get to know each other, and can help each other in times of natural disaster (hello flooding), crime and economic downturn.