Volunteering – Brooklyn Heights Home Days

One of my resolutions in May is to volunteer more in my community. This is one post in a series discussing the volunteer opportunities I’ve sought out. 

We moved to our village in November, and although I had been meaning to get involved in some way, I hadn’t yet gotten around to it. Until last night that is! Part of it is that we’re now really settled in, and part of it is that an opportunity to begin my foray into local community engagement presented itself.

Every year, our village puts on Brooklyn Heights Home Days, a community festival that’s been around for 60-plus years. As with many similar endeavors (I’m guessing), this program is going through a bit of a transition period, and they’re really doing a lot to try to engage new community members and revitalize it.

That’s where I come in. I guess.

I went to my first committee meeting for Home Days last night, and earlier this week got caught up on the history of the event and the planning so far for this year’s version. Phew. There is certainly a lot of work that goes into these type of events!

But, they are honestly worth it. Bringing the community together in this way is so critical for lifting us all up. We need to know who our neighbors are, because it provides a sense of connection and stability. We need to help raise money for important, local community activities for the same reason. And – again – we need to pull together to plan and host really fun events that help people feel rooted to the place they live.

We’re a unique community of 1500 people located not even 15 minutes from downtown Cleveland. That’s something special! I’m really honored and happy to begin my local community involvement with this event. I think it’s going to be very rewarding, and I’m looking forward to seeing and experiencing the final product!