Meet Neighbor » Neighbors

Planning A Surprise Birthday Party for Your Neighbor

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:43:52 +0000

Surprise birthday parties can be a lot of fun providing the “surprise” is not let out. You need the co-operation of everyone you’re inviting to keep the surprise party a secret. To organize the party, there’s a few things to set up first. By the way, OneTwib is the perfect tool to invite your neighbors for a party

Set A Date

Decide On a Venue

Sending Invitations

OneTwib

Planning the Menu

Decorating the Party

Playing Party Games

Giving A Special Gift – put together a scrapbook of the life and times of the guest of honor, adding paper clippings, postcards from countries they may have visited and special notes etc. that you present to him/her at the party. Put together a funny birthday card and get all the guests to add a humorous saying to it.

Planning a surprise party can be a lot of fun for the person organizing it and if you need help with ideas about what to do, ask a couple of neighbors or friends to offer their suggestions.

Share and Enjoy:

Organize An Animal Rescue Center In Your Neighborhood

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:59:01 +0000

There are many times when you drive into your neighborhood and you are confronted by dogs roaming the streets and you don’t know what to do about them. Or you may find a stray cat on your doorstep or a possum may have taken up residence in your roof.

If you are an animal lover and you want to take care of lost or injured animals, why not organize an animal rescue center in your neighborhood? Many of our animal rescue centers are overcrowded and are always looking for people to take sick and injured animals into their homes. You must be prepared to be on call 24 hours a day when you have an animal rescue center so don’t take it on if you aren’t prepared to put the time into it.

If you are interested in becoming a carer within your neighborhood then it might be a good idea to talk to your local animal shelter and ask them what is required for you to be a volunteer. You may need to undertake a course learning how to care for the animals and you may have to show that you have your house and yard set up to look after the animals properly.

Many people who organize rescue centers in their neighborhoods fund it themselves but others may need some help, so why not get the neighborhood involved and arrange a fund raising event? If your neighbors know that you have a rescue center in your home they will contact you if they come across stray, sick or injured animals.

If you want to set up a permanent animal rescue center in your neighborhood, find suitable premises and ask the landlord to lower the rent for a good cause and if it’s not possible to do that, organize a fund raising event in your neighborhood which will not only help you raise the funds you need to open your center, but it also lets the neighbors know all about you.

If you can get the whole community involved in your rescue center, you will never be short of volunteers to help man it. It’s very hard to take a break if you are running an animal rescue center on your own as it can be a 24 hour service. Taking time out for a vacation will be out of the question if you are there on your own. If you ask for volunteers to help you, you may find yourself inundated with offers because many people have a soft spot for animals and their welfare.

You could even specialize in particular animals to take care of such as birds. Once you’re known throughout the neighborhood to take in birds that are sick and injured your reputation will grow.

Setting up an animal rescue center in your neighborhood is a great idea especially if you live in an area which has a lot of wildlife. Any injured animals can be taken to your rescue center for immediate attention.

Share and Enjoy:

Offer Birthday Party Ideas for Your Neighbor

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:47:45 +0000

It’s your neighbors’ birthday party and they need help with ideas and planning, so what can you offer them? You could brainstorm a few different ideas together so that you have more chance of working out the best ideas for the both of you.

Organizing the Party: If you’ve planned a party before then you will know the initial steps to take in organizing it. Finding out if he/she has any special interests can also be a help in choosing a theme. Once you’ve chosen a theme eg. movie stars, what are the next steps?
- Try to find invitations to reflect your theme and carry that through to paper napkins etc.
- Choose a date to hold your party and make sure that there are no conflicting events on that day.
- Send invitations out to your guest list telling them to come dressed as a character from your theme. In the case of movie stars they will have many actors and actresses to choose from.
I’ve found a pretty good tool to send invitations to your neighbors, it is called OneTwib
Choosing a Venue: If your neighbor decides to hold the party at their house then you will have to decide whether or not to hold it inside or outside. If you hold it outside then you have to allow for changes in the weather, so make sure you have shelter arranged.
Holding a party in your home can also present a problem with noise, so if you aren’t inviting your nearest neighbors, inform them beforehand that there will be some noise coming from your home. It’s the polite thing to do and may stop you from getting a late night visit from your local police department!
Choosing to hold the party in a hall or some other venue will save your home from being damaged in any way. There’s always the risk of someone dropping a glass of red wine on your nice white carpet!
What to Do At the Party: If you love music and have a really good sound system, then load up your CD player with all your favorite CD’s and have them playing in the background.
If you decided to have a Rock ‘n Roll theme, you could hire a jukebox filled with all the hits from the 50’s and 60’s. Set aside a place in your yard or home for your guests to dance. If you’re in a hall then there is probably a set area for a dance floor.
Play some party games. Games are not only for the kids! Adults can play too. Pick games such as Charades, Trivia questions or even a “Name That Tune”. This will bring back a lot of memories for the guest of honor and the guests attending.

There are so many things you can do to make your party special and putting in a little time and effort will be well worth it. The reward is seeing so many happy, smiling faces. The effort you and your neighbor went to, to make the party successful, will be appreciated by everyone.
Share and Enjoy:

Create A Food Drop Center

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:08:09 +0000

The economic downturn has had a drastic affect not only those who were already homeless, but many middle-class citizens who are now finding themselves out of work, they’ve lost their homes and are virtually living on the streets.

The need for food, shelter and clothing is becoming more desperate as time goes by. You may be doing okay but know friends or neighbors who have not done so well and are now homeless or have no money to buy for their families. So what can you do to help out? Meet neighbor is here to help.

Create a food drop center! You may feel that you don’t have enough skills to organize a drop center but it really doesn’t require you to have any skills other than being able to organize somewhere for the food to be collected. Once you have collected quite a bit ask for volunteers in your community to help you sort it into packages which can be delivered, or the alternative is to let people know that they can drop in and choose what they want from the goods you have collected. It could be a good day to meet your neighbors.

Don’t forget to advertise your food drop center either by securing a free ad in your local newspaper or putting up posters all over town. Get the word out whichever way you can. If you meet a neighbor, tell him!

There are a few different ways you can create a food drop center:

Ask your local church if they have a hall they would be willing to let you have for free or rent to you for a very nominal fee. If they don’t have any activities planned they may let you use it for an extended period of time. Ask people to drop in their food donations to the hall so that you have it all in one place.
Does your town or city have a town hall? Ask your local authorities if they’d be willing to donate space, even if it’s only for a day, so that you can collect food for the needy.
Would your local supermarket be willing to allow you to place a bin inside or outside their door for food donations? Some store managers may donate food items as well. A supermarket is a great collection point as people will be willing to donate an item from their shopping.
Organize a food drop center at the local schools. Ask each child to donate a tin of food and you’ll be amazed at the response. Many families will be willing to donate one tin of food to help others not so fortunate. It’s not the same as donating money, which is tight for a lot of people.
Setting up a picnic in a park and asking each participant to give a tin of food as a donation to a worthy cause is another way to create a food drop center. It doesn’t take much to pack an extra tin in with the picnic supplies.

Creating a food drop center isn’t hard to do and if you get desperate for somewhere to store the goods you may even consider your own garage!

Share and Enjoy:

Organizing A Dancing Party At Your Home For Your Neighbors

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:56:23 +0000

Whenever you decide to hold an event at your home there is always some organization required. This is particularly true if you are organizing a dancing party at your home for your neighbors. There are so many things to organize you don’t know where to start! Meet Neighbor gives you a few tips to start the ball rolling. Don’t forget, this party is a good time to meet your new neighbor!

Decide on the date and time and organize an invitation to either send to your neighbors or hand deliver them. Be sure to mention whether your dancing party has a theme so that your guests will dress appropriately.
You have to make the decision of where in your house you’re going to hold your party. If you have a substantial sized house you may want to hold it indoors in a room large enough to fit all your guests. Make sure that you have plenty of room for a dance floor. You may decide to hold it in your backyard and this is a great idea especially if the weather is great. You can set aside an area of your yard for dancing and another area for food and drinks.
What about music? Most people these days hire a juke box or they have a decent sized CD player which can hold many cd’s. Maybe one of your neighbors plays in a band or knows of a band who would be willing to play for you. It really doesn’t matter what you do as long as you have music. You cannot have a dancing party without music!
If you are having a rather large party, you may need to hire chairs, crockery, cutlery and glasses, so don’t leave it until the last minute to source these items.
As for food, you may decide to cater yourself, or you could ask each of your neighbors to bring a plate of food. This would cut down the cost and not take up too much of your time. The other idea is to have the party catered. There are many mobile catering services available these days and they can take the hard work out of preparing food for such an event. They bring everything you need for the party and clean up and take it all away with them when the party is finished.
Not all of your neighbors will want to attend and decide instead to stay at home. It is up to you to approach them and let them know that there will be noise coming from your dancing party and you are being courteous by informing them. As long as you let people know what is happening then they are usually okay with it.

Once you have everything in place and the evening has arrived, all you have to do is wait for your guests to arrive. As long as you have put the effort into creating a night of fun for everyone, the end of the evening will see you with a satisfied smile on your face!

Share and Enjoy:

Why Was National Good Neighbor Day Created?

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:46:51 +0000

National Good Neighbor Day was created by Mrs. Betty Mattson from Lakeside, Montana in the early 1970’s. She wanted to recognize the importance of good neighbors so she began efforts to have the day proclaimed a National day. She asked congressman Mike Mansfield to help her and she succeeded in getting three presidents to issue a proclamation, as well as numerous governors. The three presidents were Nixon, Ford and Carter and part of the Carter proclamation in 1978 is as follows:

“As our Nation struggles to build friendship among the peoples of this world, we are mindful that the noblest human concern is concern for others.
Understanding, love, and respect build cohesive families and communities. The same bonds cement our Nation, and the nations of the world.
For most of us, this sense of community is nurtured and expressed in our neighborhoods where we give each other an opportunity to share and feel part of a larger family.”

In 2003, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution to make September 28th National Good Neighbor Day. Good Neighbor Day traditionally falls on the 28th September, and is a great way to interact with your neighbors. It’s a day to recognize the value of your neighbors in your life.

If you have new neighbors and you’d like to get to know them, then make it your mission on Good Neighbor Day to go and introduce yourself. You may meet some really interesting people that you would like to spend more time with. Offer to help them get acquainted with all the facilities available in your neighborhood. This is a great gift you can offer to your neighbors and National Good Neighbor Day is an appropriate day to do it.

Whatever it’s called and whenever you celebrate it, National Good Neighbor Day can be a great way to find new neighbors and show them your appreciation. It doesn’t really need to be a national holiday but it’s a great idea anyway! The value of great neighbors will come to the fore during times of need. If you don’t have any family members living near you, then having good neighbors is like being surrounded by a second family. Being able to call on your neighbors any time of the day or night can be very important, especially if you live on your own.

National Good Neighbor Day should not be confused with stores who advertize “Good Neighbor Days.” They are doing it to promote sales and many organizations use the same theme to advertize the cause they are promoting.

National Good Neighbor Day is generally filled with activities that you organize for yourself and your neighbors, or it’s a community celebration. You can arrange a barbecue or dinner for your neighbors, or you might like to go out to a local restaurant. Whatever you choose to do it will be a great time to spend together. It’s a time to sit with and really get to know your neighbors and can be the start of a really wonderful relationship.

Share and Enjoy:

How To Keep Your Home Safe While You Are Away On Vacation

admin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:18:43 +0000

House Neighborhood

You’ve been waiting to go on vacation for a whole year, and now the time has come. But, before you leave, you have to make sure that your home is safe and secure. Remember that burglars don’t take vacations!

Spend some time looking around your home to see if there are any points of entry that need securing. Don’t forget to lock a doggy-door if you have one, as burglars will use any means to get into your home. If you’ve got a house key hidden somewhere which is normally a place you would look for it, move it to a more secure place.

If you’re friendly with the neighbor next door, ask them to hold onto your spare key in case of an emergency. Be sure to give your neighbor details of where you’re staying and a phone number so they can call if there are any problems. Ask your neighbor to empty your mailbox of junk mail and to pick up any local newspapers left for you.

You need to give your home that lived-in look. If there isn’t any activity around your home for days on end, people in your community will notice, and the problem is that you really don’t know what all the people in your neighborhood are like.

If your car is normally parked outside your garage, then leave it there and ask your neighbor to keep it clear of snow or leaves, depending on the time of year. If you live in an area which gets a lot of snow, ask your friendly neighbor to keep your driveway clear. Leaving your car parked for days on end with snow built up all around it, is a sure giveaway that nobody is home.

Have your neighbor put your bins out as usual on collection days, and bring them back inside when they’ve been emptied. If an emptied bin sits out for days on end, you are giving the burglars a “no-one’s home” signal. Do you have a dog? Leaving a dog, especially a noisy one, in their own environment, is a great deterrent to burglars. If anyone comes near your home it will set your dog off and hopefully the neighbors’ dog as well. Ask your neighbor to make sure your dog is fed and is given water and shelter. This can sometimes be a better arrangement than putting your dog into a doggy vacation home!

Asking your neighbors to do everything for you while you’re away can often work well, but sometimes it doesn’t and it can cause friction between you. If that is the case, then why not get a relative or friend to houses it for you? This takes all the responsibility off your neighbors and gives you peace of mind knowing that someone is in your home. This also works well if you don’t want to place your pets into a kennel. If you are an avid gardener and don’t want your plants to die while you’re away, then you also solve that problem.

Whatever you decide to do before you go away, be discreet and don’t tell anyone who will listen that you’re going on vacation. You may just tell the wrong person and you may find out on your return home, that your home has been burgled. Keep your home safe while you’re on vacation, so that you know you’ll be coming back to it the same way you left it.

Share and Enjoy: