Good Neighbor Initiative Readies for Year No. 13

The University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership have collaborated again to create The Good Neighbor Initiative for the 13th year in a row.

The Good Neighbor Initiative is an event filled with volunteers who go door to door in select neighborhoods to educate those residents on rules and regulations in their area.

Meg McGurk from the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership has been a part of this event for several years now and said they will visit around 1,000 houses on August 22.

“It can be everything from noise ordinances, where to take your trash cans and to bring them in at the end of the night, don’t park on the lawn, and also we are having this great block party later in September,” McGurk said. “We invite all the neighbors, both the students and the year-round residents to come together, share a meal and entertainment and activities, and really celebrate their own community.”

This initiative started to bring together students and year-round residents of the neighborhoods and encourage them to get to know one another and respect their shared community.

Director of Greek Life and Community Involvement for UNC Aaron Bachenheimer said they have expanded to some neighborhoods in Carrboro and want to continue to expand this program in the future.

“The expansion typically is driven by feedback from the neighborhoods so several years ago we started to see more and more calls, some noise concerns, some trash concerns, and the number of formally single-family homes that are now rentals may be in need of the Good Neighbor Initiative, shall we say,” Bachenheimer said.

The Good Neighbor Initiative door-to-door event will be held on the first day of classes on August, 22. The block party will be held on September 13 from five until nine o’clock in the evening at the Hargraves Community Center.

The organizers are still looking for more volunteers for both events. If you are interested in being involved, visit the UNC Campus Involvement page to sign up.

Good Neighbor Initiative Readies for Year No. 13

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