After the rainy May long weekend, the City of Calgary is looking forward to a sunnier June when communities can show off how they put to use a new cash grant to host their own Neighbour Day event.
On May 20, Mayor Jyodi Gondek said that Calgary communities can apply for up to $2,500 in funding to support hosting their Neighbour Day event on June 21.
Additionally, the city will provide free permits for block parties and green spaces until applications for both the grant and permit close on May 31.
Mayor Gondek said the funding is intended to support neighbourhoods where volunteers have hosted events on their own dime, with roughly $70,000 expected to be divided among applicant communities.
She said that the grant was inspired by community associations reaching out about their desire to plan functions, but being concerned with having a limited budget.
“They are lacking the funds and the resources to make these things possible,” said Gondek.
“If we can help boost community spirit with this small microgrant, it’s absolutely something we should do.”
In 2014, the first official Neighbour Day happened in response to the floods the year before, which impacted nearly 110,000 people and resulted in the evacuation of 26 communities.
Being the largest disaster that the city has experienced to date, Gondek said that the period brought Calgary’s shared sense of resilience to the surface.
“That moment really shone a spotlight on who we are: We are people that come together, to assist each other, and get us through some really tough times,” she said.
Since then, Gondek said that the city has persevered through even more turbulence, like the pandemic and the June 2024 water main break, to name a couple. Because of these recent occurrences, she said that the day is an important gesture that remembers friendship.
“Neighbour Day is a reminder to all of us that we are stronger when we are together and we are strongest when we support one another,” said Gondek.
Community members seeking more information or wanting to fill out a grant or permit application have been directed to visit the city’s website.
