The Mighty Neighbourly program works with volunteers to help introduce and welcome new Chestermerians to the city.
“The goal is to promote connection and neighbourliness in our city,” said Lakeridge Community Church’s Pastor Evan Dewald.
The church, which has a focus on hospitality, has been sponsoring the program for the past three years.
“When people move to our city, we think it’s important that people have a chance to learn about the local businesses, learn about the local programs and be given the option to volunteer locally,” he said.
Lakeridge Community Church facilitates the Mighty Neighbourly program but Dewald said that it is not a religious program.
“This falls under the mandate of making our city a better place for everyone to live,” he said.
Mighty Neighbourly is open to any individual or family that has moved to Chestermere in the last three to six months.
Families must register themselves for Mighty Neighbourly but Dewald hopes that the neighbours of newcomers will tell them about the program and encourage them to sign up.
“If somebody new has moved to your street you can encourage them to do this,” said Dewald, “that’s what we need and want.”
After registering with the program, a family will have a small wooden crate filled with business coupons, gift cards and other gifts, delivered to them by a volunteer
Dewald estimates that each crate has about $500 worth of gifts in it.
When someone moves to Chestermere from Calgary they don’t necessarily change their habits from shopping in Calgary to shopping in Chestermere.
The goal of Mighty Neighbourly is to introduce these people to the great local businesses in the city.
“What we want to show them is that Chestermere has something incredible to offer them,” said Dewald.
His theory is that there is about a six-month window in which people are open to trying new things after moving to Chestermere.
“If they don’t change their hair dresser they not going to,” he said as an example of his theory.
Dewald said that it is both free to receive the Mighty Neighbourly crates and for local businesses to donate something to it.
They are looking for more businesses in town to add more coupons and gift cards to the crates.
There are no limits, other than being local, on which businesses can participate in the program.
“We’re…100 per cent promoting local, buy local,” said Dewald.
“We want people to buy here in Chestermere,” he said.
The costs of the Mighty Neighbourly program are covered by donations and the church.
Dewald said they are always looking for more sponsors for the program and more volunteers, especially multilingual volunteers.
To volunteer with the program or to request a Mighty Neighbourly crate go to www.lakeridgecommunity.com/mighty-neighbourly-1/
