01
Park clean-ups
Third Saturday of every month, 9am at Linden Park. Tools and gloves provided; kids very much included.
- Third Saturday, 9am
- Coffee + bagels after
Founded 2014 · 380 members · free to join
Small acts. Local difference.
Park clean-ups, school-supply drives, a neighbour-help network, and the bi-monthly meeting where we figure out what's next. Newcomers always welcome.
01The groupNo dues, no board politics
- 380
- Members from the neighbourhood
- 2014
- Started over a broken bus shelter
- 600+
- Kids served by last year's supply drive
- $0
- Dues, ever
02ProgrammesPick one, or start one
What we actually do
02
Neighbour help network
Rides to appointments, a ladder and a second pair of hands, meals when someone's laid up. Neighbours matched to neighbours.
- Ask or offer — same form
- 48-hour match, usually faster
03
School supply drive
Every August. Drop-off points at the library and the deli; 600+ kids started the year stocked last time.
- Runs all of August
04
The block party
Every September the street closes and everyone shows up. Music, grills, a bouncy castle, and the famous pie table.
- Second Saturday of September
- Volunteer crews sign up in July
The calendar
The year, on one page
Nothing here needs signing up for in advance. Turn up to any of it and you are a member — that is the whole process.
- Third Sat · 9amSocialLinden Park gates
Park clean-up
Tools, gloves and bags provided. Coffee and bagels after, which is arguably the real event.
- Second Tue · 7pmPanelLibrary meeting room
Group meeting
What happened, what is next, and whatever anyone brings up. Ninety minutes, hard stop.
- RollingBreak
Neighbour help matches
Rides, ladders, a meal when someone is laid up. Matched within about 48 hours, all year.
- All AugustSocialLibrary + the deli
School supply drive
Drop-off bins at both points all month. Six hundred kids started the year stocked last time.
- Second Sat, SeptSocialLinden Ave, street closed
The block party
Music, grills, a bouncy castle and the pie table. Volunteer crews sign up in July.
- Late NovemberSocialDrop at the library
Coat + blanket collection
Clean and warm only, please. Sorted and distributed by the first cold week.
- Second Tue, JanPanelLibrary meeting room
The books, read out loud
Every dollar in and out of the group, read aloud at the January meeting. Anyone can come.
The bus shelter nobody was fixing.
In 2014 the shelter on Linden had been broken for a year and nobody was coming. Six neighbours fixed it in an afternoon and thought: what else could we just... do? Eleven years later we're 380 members strong and still asking the same question at every meeting.
- Bi-monthly meetings · second Tuesday at the library, 7pm
- No dues · all ages · every block welcome
- Registered 501(c)(4) community association
03Start anywhere
How to plug in
Show up once
A clean-up, a meeting, the block party — whichever comes first on the calendar. That's membership; there is no step two paperwork.
Pick a crew
Parks, help network, supply drive, or events. Crews run themselves and always want one more pair of hands.
Start something
Got an idea the neighbourhood needs? Pitch it at a meeting. The bus shelter was an idea once too.
Neighbours say
Why people stay
5 out of 5 stars
“I moved here knowing nobody. Two clean-ups and one block party later I knew forty people and had a casserole schedule when my hip gave out. That's the whole pitch.”
R
Ruth E.
Member since 2019
04Asked at every meeting
Fair questions
Does it cost anything?+
No dues, ever. Programmes run on small donations and the block-party bake sale, and the books are read out at the January meeting.
I have almost no time. Still useful?+
Two hours at one clean-up a year is genuinely useful. The help network especially suits people who can do occasional favours, not standing commitments.
I need help — is that what this is for?+
Yes, and asking is not a debt. The same form handles asking and offering; most members have done both.
Is this political?+
No. We fix, feed, and celebrate. When the neighbourhood needs to speak to the city we write letters about potholes, not platforms.
Next clean-up: third Saturday, 9am.
Tools provided, kids welcome, coffee after. Showing up once is the whole membership process.
Linden Park gates · rain moves us to the library
Join · volunteer · get help
However you want to be part of this — tell us and a real neighbour replies within a few days.
- Email
- MeetingsSecond Tuesday · library · 7pm
- Clean-upsThird Saturday · Linden Park · 9am
The monthly letter
Upcoming events, neighbour news, and one good piece of local writing. Twelve emails a year, written by rotation.