Results of 2024 Missouri Good Neighbor Week Exceed 30,000 Acts of Neighboring!

 


Several hands have been busy tabulating the final results from the 4th Annual Missouri Good Neighbor Week. While those volunteers and partners are invaluable, people like you are also worthy of thanks. 

Individual Missourians who reported their acts of neighboring nominated someone for an award, or organized a block party! Or you were on one of 60 committees with University of Missouri Extension to organize county-level efforts that account for over 14,000 acts of neighboring this year! 

No matter your role or level of involvement, thank you.

On another positive note, the efforts in Missouri have not gone unnoticed. In the last month, I have received inquiries about the creation of other statewide neighbor weeks from Massachusetts, Michigan, Connecticut, California, Florida, Oklahoma, Washington, and Colorado. How exciting! Based on this year's results, the future seems bright.

ENGAGED NEIGHBORS. We have already announced the 22 individuals being recognized as Missouri's most Engaged Neighbors. You can read that list here.

BLOCK PARTIES. We had 18 documented block parties in the Springfield area, and at least 12 cities across the state had organized local campaigns for the week. You can read about those and other success stories in this blog. 

TOTAL ACTS OF NEIGHBORING. We have been able to document 31,129 acts of neighboring! Our goal was 20,000. Thank you to everyone who participated. This year we randomly drew names to recognize individuals that report acts of neighboring but that random drawing still produced an impressive list of acts done during the week.

MOST NEIGHBORLY CITIES: A full media release will come out later this week, but based on a formula we developed and tested for this year that takes into consideration nominations and winners for engaged neighbors, city campaigns and proclamations, reported acts of neighboring and media coverage, the following five cities are being recognized this year as Missouri's Most Neighborly Cities.

A total of 118 Missouri cities earned points this year. But only the top point getters could be honored as Missouri's most neighborly!

The 2024 winner cities are in bold:

Small City, with a population under 5,000 - First place: Houston, Mo.

Runner-Ups: Lexington and Butler, Mo.

Medium City, with population 5,000 – 15,000 - First place: Excelsior Springs, Mo.

Runner-Up: Rogersville, Mo

Large City, with population 15,000 -30,000 - First place: Sikeston, Mo.

Runner-Up: Republic and Ferguson, Mo

Metro City, with population more than 30,000 - First place: Springfield, Mo.

Runner-up: tie between Lee's Summit, St. Peters and St. Louis, Mo

At Large Selection: Ferguson, Missouri

Missouri Good Neighbor Week was passed by the legislature and enacted by Governor Mike Parsons in 2022. The idea for the week was created by David Burton, a community development specialist with the University of Missouri Extension. He had done some weeklong celebrations in both Republic and Springfield, Missouri, before working with his State Representative, Bishop Davidson, on a bill. 

The Hopeful Neighborhood Project, headquartered in St. Louis, is a co-partner with other Missouri County Extension Councils in supporting the project statewide.

MORE INFORMATION

Are you interested in taking the Engaged Neighbor pledge? The pledge outlines five categories and 20 principles to guide you toward becoming an engaged neighbor. Sign the pledge online at http://engagedneighbor.com. Individuals who take the pledge do get special privilides and get invited to future events online and in person. Contact the blog author, David L. Burton at dburton541@yahoo.com.

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